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MAP OF THE 

TELLOWSTO:tfE 

XmONAL PARK 



References. 

y'Rotel Sites. j ov . Geysers and other 

*, AB "V Scale of Miles 

| X- ^ * f j ? 





THE 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 



BY 

HERMAN HAUPT, Jr., M. D., Ph. D. 



A COMPLETE GUIDE TO AND DESCRIPTION OF THE WON- 
DROUS YELLOWSTONE REGION OF WYOMING 
AND MONTANA TERRITORIES OF THE 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



ILLUSTRATED 



> 
,PHIA 



NEW YORK AND PHILADELP: 

J. M . STODDART 

326 WABASHA STREET, ST. PAUL, MINN. 



Copyright, 1883, by J. M. STODDART. 









tf-Jft 



General glanagcr of t\t Jtortfetrn pacific gailroafc, 



AND TO THE 



Rev. J. HOUSTON ECCLESTON, D.D., 



TOGETHER WITH 



ALL LOVERS OF THE SUBLIME IN NATURE, 

These Pages are Respectfully Dedicated by 
The Author. 



PREFACE. 



Having, with a small party of chosen friends, spent 
a few weeks in the most pleasant manner possible 
wandering among the wondrous and curious freaks 
of Nature to be found in the National Park, as a 
means of perpetuating the pleasant reminiscence, and 
of furnishing to my fellows of the "army of Ameri- 
can tourists " a guide to aid them to reach and satis- 
factorily traverse this wonderful region, the work of 
preparing this little book has been undertaken. The 
object throughout has been to give a clear direction as 
to the means of reaching the various points of interest, 
and at the same time to impart such general informa- 
tion, from the best and most reliable sources, as will 
add to the interest, and so far as possible explain the 
cause, of the singular phenomena witnessed. It is a 
land of wonder ; and the tourist, after his first round, 
will yearn to revisit the place a second time, such is 
the interest and surprise these sights engender in the 
mind. 

The route adopted in this book is by the geyser 
basin of the Firehole River, and thence eastward by 
the trail through Morris Pass to the West Bay, or 
Thumb, of the Yellowstone Lake ; thence to the out- 
*let and falls, and so on round to Barronett's Bridge and 
Soda Butte Creek, and back to the Mammoth Hot 

5 



Springs. The tourist who may prefer to reverse this 
route by travelling to Tower Creek and Mount 
Washburn before seeing the geysers will find the 
descriptions by turning to the back of the book and 
following in regular sequence toward the front, the 
various places being indicated by head-lines in the 
pages. 

The data for this work have been drawn from the 
notes of a member of the party, together with mem- 
oranda made by the author and the works on the sub- 
ject by Hayden, Stanley, Wylie and others, to whom 
due credit is given in the proper places. 

Very respectfully, 

The Author. 
St. Paul, Minnesota, 1883. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Early History of the National Park, and Act of Dedication. 11 



CHAPTER II. 

How to Reach the Park. — Outfitting. — Guides. — Starting 
Out 16 



CHAPTER III. 

Fort Ellis. — Gophers and Prairie-Dogs. — Rock Cafion and 
Coal-Mines. — Mountain House 21 



CHAPTER IV. 

Livingston. — Gate of the Mountains. — Upper Yellowstone 
Valley. — Fridley's Ran che.— Curlew. — Emigrant Gulch 
and Peak. — Bear Gulch and Mill Creek - 



CHAPTER V. 

Cinnabar Mountain. — The Devil's Slide. — Second Canon. 
— Yankee Jim's. — Gardiner River and McCartney's 
Ranche 32 



CHAPTER VI. 

Mammoth Hot Springs. — Hot Baths. — Hospitality of Mr. 
Henderson and Family. — Hot Springs in Gardiner 
River 38 

7 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

PAGE 

Swan Lake and Mud Bogs. — Wild Ducks. — Obsidian Cliff. 
— Beaver Lake. — Black-tail Deer. — Lake of the Woods. 
—Old Sulphur Springs 48 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Norris Geyser Basin and Geysers. — W T illow Park. — Gibbon 
River and Water-Ousel. — Mount Schurz. — Monument 
Geyser 57 

CHAPTER IX. 

Lower Geyser Basin. — Road to Henry's Lake and Vir- 
ginia City.— Road to the Yellowstone Falls and Canon. 
—Paint-Pots 66 

CHAPTER X. 

Middle Geyser Basin. — Excelsior Geyser. — Hell's Half- 
Acre. — Fairy Falls. — Riverside Hot Springs 78 



CHAPTER XL 

Upper Geyser Basin. — Old Faithful. — Grand. — Splendid. 
— Castle. — Beehive. — Giant. — Giantess. — The Lion. 
—Lioness. — Cubs. — Little Joker. — Grotto. — Fan. — 
Riverside. — Saw-Mill Geyser. — Theories of the Geyser 
Action 84 

CHAPTER XII. 

Falls of the Madison, or Firehole, River. — Norris Pass. — 
Shoshone Lake. — Two-Ocean Pond. — The Backbone 
of America 114 

CHAPTER XIII. 

West .Bay, or Thumb, of Yellowstone Lake. — Yellowstone 
Lake. — Flat Mountain. — Heart Lake and Geyser 
Basin. — Hot Springs Camp. — Crater Island. — Taper- 
ing Spring. — Mud-Springs and Paint-Pots. — Yellow- 
stone Lake Trout.— Elk-Hunting 118 



CONTENTS. 9 

CHAPTER XIV. 

PAGE 

Bluff Point. — Rock Point and Sand Point. — Natural 
Bridge. — The Yellowstone Lake. — Scenes on the 
Lake-Shore. — Sunset. — Moonlight. — Outlet of the 
Lake. — Swans. — Pelicans and other Water-Fowl 125 

CHAPTER XV. 

Mud Geyser, or Giant's Caldron. — Road to Lower Geyser 
Basin. — Sulphur Mountain and Hot Spring. — Alum 
Creek.— Crystal Falls.— Grotto Pool.— Upper Falls.— 
Lower Falls. — Grand Canon of the Yellowstone River. 133 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Mount Washburn. — Tower Falls. — Barronett's Bridge. — 

Amethyst Mountain. — Fossil Forests 149 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Soda Butte Spring. — Trout Lake. — Clark's Fork Mines. — 
Cooke City. — Index Peak and Valley of Clark's Fork 
River. — Sentinel of the Soda Butte Canon. — Mountain 
Sheep. — Mountain Grouse and other Game 161 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Black-tail Meadows and Divide. — Falls of the East Fork 
of Gardiner River. — Mount Evarts. — Mammoth Hot 
Springs again 166 



Conclusion 170 



10 CONTENTS. 



APPENDICES. 

PAGE 

A. Fares and Expenses 173 

B. Table of Geyser Eruptions 178 

C. Rules and Regulations op the Yellowstone 

National Park 180 

D. List of Minerals and their Localities 181 

E. Distances and Elevations of Principal Objects 

of Interest 182 



INDEX 185 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Yellowstone River, near Livingston 25 

Second Canon 34 

Mammoth Hot Springs 39 

Hot Springs 40 

A Day's Sporting 51 

Gibbon's Falls 61 

Old Faithful Geyser 85 

Beehive Geyser 88 

Splendid Geyser 107 

Madison Canon 115 

Scenery on the Yellowstone Lake 130 

Grand Canon of the Yellowstone 143 

Tower Falls 153 

Barronett's Bridge 157 



THE 

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



CHAPTER I. 



Early History of the National Park, and 
Act of Dedication. 

The Yellowstone National Park region has been 
more or less known for many years. The Grand 
Canon was visited as early as 1807 by one Coulter, 
who made a trip across it. Still earlier tradition 
mentions visits made to the country by Spanish and 
Mexican rovers, and by Canadians from Hudson Bay 
in quest of hides and pelts. A stump was found near 
the upper falls, on the west side of the river, with " J. 
O. R., Aug. 29, 1819," carved in the wood, which is as- 
cribed to one Ross, a famous Hudson-Bay trapper, who 
was many years ago killed by the Blackfeet Indians. 

In the spring of 1864, H. W. Wayant of Silver 
City, with about forty men and pack-outfit, ascended 
the east side of the Yellowstone to Emigrant Gulch 
and the East Fork and Soda Butte Creeks. A part 
of the company pushed on to Index Peak, at the head 
of Clarke's Fork of the Columbia River, in Montana. 
In the same year George Huston aud party ascended 
the main Firehole River, but, fearing from the mar- 
vellous eruptions of the Giantess and other geysers 
and the suffocating fumes of brimstone they were 
nearing the infernal regions, they hastily decamped. 

Up to 1869 the occasional visits that were made 



12 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

were prompted by the prospect of gain. Trappers 
came hither for skins and furs, and others made search 
for the precious metals. But the wholesale slaughter 
of game did not commence till later. To illustrate 
the extent of this more recent slaughter, we can state, 
on good authority, that during the winter of 1881 and 
1882 five thousand elk-hides were shipped to the East- 
ern markets, nothing being said of the beaver and oth- 
er skins that may have been taken in a like ruinous 
proportion. 

In 1871, Dr. F. V. Hayden, United States geologist, 
with a full corps of assistants and scientific experts, 
made a thorough exploration of the Park region and 
rearranged the nomenclature, besides collecting data 
for an excellent geological map of that region. The 
result proved that this section of country was entirely 
unfit for agriculture, as the cold and snow frustrated 
any attempt at cultivation, frosts occurring during 
every month in the year. A bill was therefore intro- 
duced on December 18, 1871, in the Senate of the 
United States, by the Hon. S. C. Pomeroy, to set apart 
a certain tract of country at the head- waters of the 
Yellowstone River as a public park, and about the 
same time a similar bill was introduced in the House 
of Representatives of the United States by the Hon. 
Wm. H. Claggett, delegate from Montana, to set apart 
three thousand five hundred and seventy-eight square 
miles of public domain as a national pleasure-ground. 

On January 27, 1872, Mr. Dunnell, of the Com- 
mittee on Public Lands, in his report on the bill, says : 

" The entire area within the limits of the proposed 
reservation is over six thousand feet in altitude, and 
the Yellowstone Lake — which occupies an area fifteen 
miles by twenty-two miles, or three hundred and thirty 
square miles — is seven thousand four hundred and 
twenty-seven feet above sea-level. . . . The ranges of 
mountains that hem the valley in on every side rise to 
the height of ten thousand to twelve thousand feet, 
and are perpetually covered with snow. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 13 

" During the months of June, July and August the 
climate is pure and invigorating, with scarcely any 
rain or storms, but the thermometer frequently sinks to 
26°. . . . 

" Persons are now waiting for the spring to open to 
enter in and take possession of these remarkable curi- 
osities, to make merchandise of these beautiful speci- 
mens, to fence in these rare wonders, so as to charge 
visitors a fee, as is now done at Niagara Falls, for the 
sight of that which ought to be as free as the air or 
water. 

"The geysers of Iceland, which have been objects 
of interest for the scientific men and travellers of the 
entire world, sink into insignificance in comparison with 
the hot springs of the Yellowstone and Firehole basins. 

" If the bill fails to become a law this session, the 
vandals who are now waiting to enter into the Won- 
derland will in a single season despoil beyond recovery 
these remarkable curiosities, which have required all 
the cunning skill of Nature thousands of years to 
prepare." 

The act, as passed at this time, is as follows : 

ACT OF DEDICATION. 

AN ACT to set apart a certain tract of land lying near the head-waters 
of the Yellowstone River as a public park. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled. That the tract 
of land in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming lying near 
the head-waters of the Yellowstone River, and described as fol- 
lows, to wit : Commencing at the junction of Gardiner's River 
with the Yellowstone River and running east to the meridian 
passing ten miles to the eastward of the most eastern point of 
Yellowstone Lake ; thence south along the said meridian to the 
parallel of latitude passing ten miles south of the most southern 
point of Yellowstone Lake; thence west along said parallel to 
the meridian passing fifteen miles west of the most western 
point of Madison Lake; thence north along said meridian to 
the latitude of the junction of the Yellowstone and Gardiner 
Rivers ; thence east to the place of beginning,— is hereby re- 
served and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy or sale under 
the laws of the United States, and dedicated and set apart as a 
public park or pleasure-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of 



14 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

the | eople: and all persons who shall locate, settle upon or oc- 
cupy the same or any part thereof, except as hereinafter pro- 
vided, shall be considered trespassers and removed therefrom. 

Sec. 2. That said public park shall be under the exclusive 
control of the Secretary of the Interior, whose duty it shall be, 
as soon as practicable, to make and publish such rules and regu- 
lations as he may deem necessary or proper for the care and 
management of the same. Such regulations shall provide for 
the preservation from injury or spoliation of all timber, mineral 
deposits, natural curiosities or wonders within said park, and 
their retention in their natural condition. 

The Secretary may, in his discretion, grant leases for build- 
ing purposes, for terms not exceeding ten years, of small parcels 
of ground at such places in said park as shall require the erec- 
tion of buildings for the accommodation of visitors; all of the 
proceeds of said leases, and all other revenues that may be de- 
rived from any source connected with said park, to be expended 
under his direction in the management of the same and the 
construction of roads and bridle-paths therein. He shall pro- 
vide against the wanton destruction of the fish and game found 
within said park, and against their capture or destruction for 
the purpose of merchandise or profit. He shall also cause all 
persons trespassing upon the same after the passage of this act 
to be removed therefrom, and generally shall be authorized to 
take all such measures as shall be necessary or proper to fully 
carry out the objects and purposes of this act. 

Approved March 1, 1872. 

So that on the 1st day of March, 1872, the Yel- 
lowstone National Park entered into existence, and it 
has commanded more or less attention from the pub- 
lic ever since. 



CHAPTER II. 

How to Reach the National Park. 

Till within a few months the National Park was a 
far-off place, accessible only by the venturesome and 
the strong-minded, and even in the summer of 1882 
a long and wearisome stage- or horseback-ride of sev- 
eral hundred miles was necessary to reach this en- 
chanting place. Now, however, the distance is reduced 
to fifty-eight miles, or a good day's hard ride from the 
railroad, and by the early fall of this present year one 
may go from St. Paul, and even Chicago, direct to the 
National Park in a Pullman or Wagner coach. 

From the East. 

From the East the objective point is -Chicago, from 
which place the tourist has two routes by which he 
may reach the Park — one via the Chicago, Milwaukee 
and St. Paul R. R., or the Chicago and North-western, 
and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha R. R., 
to St. Paul, thence over the Northern Pacific R. R. 
direct to the Park. (For fare, see Appendix A.) An- 
other route is via the Union Pacific and Utah North- 
ern Railroads to Beaver Canon, thence by stage to 
the Gibbon Geyser basin, in the Park, following the 
Madison River. 

From the West. 

From the West the tourist may reach the Park by 
the Union Pacific and Utah Northern Railroad, as 
before, and also from San Francisco by the Oregon 
Railway and Navigation Company's boats to Port- 
land or Tacoma, thence via the Northern Pacific 



16 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

again direct to the Park — the route which every one 
having the time will prefer, as the combination of 
ocean-sailing with a ride through the magnificent sce- 
nery along the Columbia River is such that all those 
who can will take that route ; and many Eastern 
travellers, after viewing the Park, will make the jour- 
ney westward and return by the Union or the Central 
Pacific Railroad. 

To-day the most practical route by which to reach 
the Park is via the Northern Pacific. The tourist, 
having consulted G. K. Barnes, Esq., at St. Paul, and 
procured his through- or return-ticket and secured his 
berth in the sleeping-car, takes the train at the Union 
depot, and is off for the National Park. A good 
night's ride brings him to Moorhead and Fargo. 

Moorhead. 
At Moorhead connection is made with the St. Paul, 
Minneapolis and Manitoba Railroad for points on this 
road to the south-east. 

Fargo. 

At Fargo " a good square " breakfast is set out, and 
is partaken of with relish, as the air is generally fresh 
enough to give one a sharp appetite. 

The cities of Moorhead and Fargo are situated, the 
one on the east, the other on the west, bank of the 
great Red River of the North, emptying into Hudson 
Bay. 

Noon brings us to Jamestown, where an excellent 
repast is set before the hungry tourist by Messrs. 
Klaus & Co. The setting sun finds us on the banks 
of the Missouri River (Muddy Water), at Bismark, 
for some years the terminus of the Northern Pacific 
Railroad. From Bismark one is ferried across the 
turbid water of the Missouri in one of those old- 
fashioned Mississippi river-steamers that are said to 
be able to go where the earth is a little damp, to 
Mandan, the newly-founded city on the west bank of 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 17 

the river, north of Fort Abraham Lincoln. Now the 
trains cross on the fine iron bridge spanning the river. 
At Billings we left the railroad and staged it to Boze- 
man. The Northern Pacific R.R. has now reached this 
point; so that the tourist will have no staging, and it is 
likely that in a short time he will outfit in the Park itself. 

BOZEMAN. 

Bozeman is an old settlement and dates back to 
1863, when this region was a howling wilderness; and 
it has grown to be a place of importance — in fact, is 
the business metropolis of Eastern Montana. It is at 
the eastern end of the Gallatin Valley, and up to this 
date every pound of merchandise that has reached this 
flourishing town was hauled in bull-wagons hundreds 
of miles ; and it is a most picturesque sight to see a 
train of these wagons, there being eighteen to twenty 
oxen yoked together, drawing a train of three, and 
sometimes four, heavy wagons. During one day we 
counted seventy-five such teams crossing the plains to 
and from Bozeman, and the sight of wagons and oxen 
corralled in the street was amazing — a perfect wilder- 
ness of wagons. Bozeman is now what may be called 
" a solid place," and is rapidly growing. 

Outfitting. 

To Bozeman the tourist will repair in order to outfit, 
which means to procure his outfit for the trip through 
the Park. This includes the purchase of everything 
he needs on the way, from a needle and thread to his 
cay use (Indian pony). 

The manner in which he expects to make the tour 
of the Park will determine the extent of the outfit he 
will be obliged to purchase. For instance, if he be a 
prospecting miner, he will buy him two cayuses and 
shovel, pick, blankets and " grub-stake,'' consisting of 
flour, bacon, dried fruit, sugar, coffee, salt, tea, etc., 
and, with a gold-pan and a frying-pan, he is " made 
up," with the exception of rifle and ammunition. 
2 



18 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

If he be not a miner, but a " tenderfooted gentleman 
from the States," or a "pilgrim" and not accustomed to 
'•'rustle," he will much prefer to have a guide provide 
all the necessaries and he will foot the bills. He buys 
neither his horse nor any other part of his outfit, but 
leaves the whole matter to the dragoman whom he 
may be fortunate enough to have secured. This is a 
convenient way to do, as it relieves from all care. But 
there are certain little comforts that every one wants 
to provide for himself — as a good heavy pair of blank- 
ets, an overcoat long enough to wrap well up in or an 
ulster, a rubber blanket or rubber coat. A rubber 
pillow from the States will be a very pleasant adjunct 
to the outfit. A strong suit of clothes, with a change 
or so of underwear, as the tourist may please, and a 
helmet or cork hat brought from St. Paul or the 
States, with a pocket-flask and a pair of convex 
smoked glasses or spectacles, will materially enhance 
the comforts of the trip. Of course you will need soap 
and other toilet articles, and a good field-glass will not 
be amiss. But let me advise the tourist of one thing — 
namely, to avoid a " gripsack," or valise. Put all your 
traps in a pair of saddle-pockets, or, if you cannot get 
that, secure a good strong duck sack, such as is used 
for grain, with a cord tied around the neck, and you 
will have more comfort on your trip, and less swearing 
on the part of the guide, than you can imagine. " We 
have been there," and speak by the card. 

The tourist who wants to reduce his expenses will 
spend a day at Bozeman and buy his horses, which on 
his return he can sell for almost, if not quite, the price 
which he paid for them, either to a speculator or to 
some pilgrim just from the States. In fact, an entire 
outfit, except the grub-stake, may frequently be pro- 
cured in this way from a returned party, and sold on 
the return, which is certainly the cheapest way of 
doing the Park. 



yellowstone national park. 19 

Guides. 
As to guides, there are in and around Bozeraan a 
few men whom I have met that will conduct parties 
through the Park in safety and with satisfaction to the 
tourist. Among this number may be mentioned Jack 
Barronett, Samuel Jackson, Nelson Catlin and James 
S. Bennett. And the tourist should look well to this 
matter if he does not wish to spoil his trip by a surly 
and obstinate guide. Every year adds new names to 
the list of efficient guides, and it will not be a great 
while till they will be too plenty. 

Starting Out. 
The guide being selected and the outfit got ready, 
the hour for starting out arrives, and the sacks of flour, 
bacon and sugar and the buffalo-robes are carried out 
to the appointed place and the pack-animals brought 
up and saddled. The pack-saddle consists of four 
pieces of wood secured together like a saw-buck, with 
two additional pieces fastened longitudinally beneath 
the lower arms, on which the whole structure rests on 
the animal's back, being protected by a few folds of 
blanket, The four upper arms fasten the cords hold- 
ing the load, which is secured by a diamond-hitch and 
a sinch. The small Indian pony, or cayuse, will 
readily convey a load of two hundred and fifty pounds 
for a whole day and seem as frisky and playful after 
his load is removed at evening as ever before. In 
fact, these little " beggars " have a most effectual way 
of ridding themselves of a troublesome burden by a 
trick, peculiar to themselves, known in the vernacular 
as "bucking" (a name taken from the habit of tn"e 
elk and the deer of putting all four feet together and 
stamping with all four simultaneously on the ground, 
with head down and tail depressed), with a succession 
of shocks so quickly succeeding each other that rider, 
pack, or whatever it may be, comes off his back. Then 
all is quiet, and the animal seems as gentle as a kitten. 
It does not make any difference where the cayuse 



20 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

may happen to be when he is taken with the notion to 
buck ; for buck he will — even on the side of a steep 
mountain, as we know from dire experience. We were 
going up the side of Mount Henderson on one occasion, 
and we had on " Old Pinto" a miscellaneous pack of 
frying-pans, flour, etc., together with a pair of elk- 
antlers, and just at the steepest part of the ascent the 
antlers turned a bit and took Old Pinto in the soft parts 
of his anatomy, whereupon he stopped and went through 
such a series of evolutions as would have puzzled an 
acrobat; and the result was that we were full half an 
hour carrying the scattered items of his pack up the 
hill again and readjusting them on his back. But 
almost any horse would have bucked under such 
circumstances. 

With all their bucking propensities, the cay uses are 
very sensible little beasts, and soon become so well 
trained that they will carry a heavy load in perfect 
safety over a narrow foot-bridge or log with the top 
side flattened, and along the edge of a yawning chasm 
with more steadiness than a man can walk; and to 
those with unsteady heads I would say, "Trust your 
cayuse to carry you through, and shut your eyes if 
you are nervous;" it will be all right. 

It is a motley crew, and a grotesque sight to see the 
train start out of the town with its freight, bound for 
the Wonderland. Indeed, it is a wonder in itself, when 
we consider the fact that on the backs of that band 
of small ponies is stowed away the endless confusion 
of pots, pans, bags, cans, bundles, tents, buffalo-robes, 
blankets, guns, ammunition, etc., that a short time 
before lay, a helpless mass, in Catlin's back yard. 

Well, off they go, Catlin in the lead on his big bay, 
with old frosted-ear " Pinto " following hard on his 
heels, succeeded by "Black Jack " and the others — 
all in a line, with no straps to hitch them together ; 
and finally, on the gray, rides Deam, with pipe in his 
mouth and his long persuader cracking about the 
flanks of his unwilling brute. 



CHAPTER III. 

Fort Ellis. 

Leaving the pack-train, we rode on ahead, and soon 
reached Fort Ellis, a post which had for a long time 
been far out en the frontier; but now the frontier has 
left it and moved west, and soon will the place, with 
all its stir of marching troops, be among the things 
that were. Over the prairie-land to the west, and 
stretching as far as the eye could reach toward the 
Madison and Jefferson Rivers, were herds of Montana 
cattle grazing on the rich blue-joint and bunch-grass, 
and looking as fat and sleek as though fed in the 
States on the best of grain. In one place we passed a 
herd of six thousand head, and there was not a single 
lean kine to be seen anywhere. In the yard at the 
fort were stacks of rich meadow hay, cut from the 
banks of the river, and the well-filled barns gave 
abundant evidence of the fertility of the soil and 
the salubrity of the climate around Bozeman. 

Gophers. 
One unaccustomed to riding on a prairie will, unless 
he has a well-trained steed, be in constant danger of 
being thrown headlong by his horse stumbling into a 
gopher's burrow, of which there are hundreds all along 
the road. The gopher himself is a harmless little fel- 
low, of the family Rodentia, and, like his congeners 
the squirrels, is very nimble and quick when fright- 
ened, but so unsuspecting that a horseman may ride 
by his burrow while he basks in the sun without the 
least concern ; but let a dog come along, and he whisks 
his tail and is out of sight in an instant. The Indians 

21 



22 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

esteem gophers very fine eating, and, with a noose 
spread about the mouth of the burrow, the animals 
are easily caught by a quick jerk of the cord when 
they are in a right position for it. 

Prairie-Dogs. 
Somewhat more peculiar in its habits and associa- 
tions than the gopher is the prairie-dog, of which the 
tourist will have seen hundreds ere his journey is 
completed. He is a little animal, about the size of a 
muskrat, but never goes into the water. He digs 
deep burrows in the ground, and will drop into them 
as quick as a flash when frightened. As you ride 
along you will see the little fellows sitting up on their 
haunches on the mounds around each burrow or ly- 
ing secreted just inside the mouth, making a chirping 
little bark all the time; and at each bark the little 
tail is frisked about as if it was the safely-valve which 
let off the steam. These little fellows sit so still and 
steady as one rides along that the tourist is tempted to 
make a mark of them, and he tries his hand at a shot 
from his pistol or rifle, and always misses him. The 
instant the shot is fired the little fellow, with a whisk 
of his tail, drops into the burrow and is safe. I 
have never seen one shot except by an old Crow In- 
dian, who fired into the ground below the prairie-dog, 
and as he dropped into his burrow the bullet struck 
him ; and the success was obtained only after repeated 
failures on the part of the red man. 

Rock Canon. 
Leaving Fort Ellis on the north, the road led 
into Rock Canon, along the banks of a branch of the 
Gallatin River. On either side of the way rises to 
the height of several hundred feet cliffs of a compact 
limestone, leaving a canon of several hundred yards 
in width between them. At the foot of the cliff the 
disintegrated limestone has produced a soil on which 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 23 

the most luxuriant growth of clover, timothy and other 
nutritious grasses furnishes excellent pasture for the 
lowing herds of cattle that graze in the valley. Pass- 
ing through a short gorge in the mountains, the valley 
divides and is broken by small rounded hills ; while 
on the sides of the mountains beyond rugged cliffs jut 
out and hang with threatening aspect over the valley 
below. 

Coal-Mines. 

Above the limestone, geologically considered, we 
find the coal-beds of this locality. Coal in this region 
of country is very scarce, and after leaving the Ohio 
beds we discover nothing except hard lignite till we 
reach the Bozeman beds. Here we find a limited 
basin of good bituminous coal, five feet in thickness 
and with good coking and steam-making qualities. 
The Northern Pacific Coal Company is mining this 
coal and selling it along tlxe line of the road, with 
the best possible prospects of a very lucrative busi- 
ness. Two or three other parties have opened mines 
of coal in this region, and are entirely satisfied with 
the result. 

Leaving the mines to the left, we rode on to the di- 
vide between the Yellowstone and Gallatin Rivers over 
a rolling upland country, and pitched our tents on the 
Yellowstone side, after a ride of six hours, at the 
Mountain House. 

Mountain House. 
At the Mountain House we made our first camp. 
The party was small and just fixed for a very enjoy- 
able tour. We were prepared to " rough it," and ex- 
pected to have a chance. Still, before bidding adieu 
to all connection with civilized society, we procured 
what comforts the Mountain House afforded in the 
way of fresh meat and good milk ; so, while Catlin 
was unpacking the fourteen animals — which he turned 
loose to fill themselves with the grass that grew knee- 



24 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

deep around them — and Deani got out the parfleishes 
and spread out the cloth for supper, we started off to 
interview " John Chinaman " at the hotel and get 
some milk and beef. We found "John" good-hu- 
mored and talking good English ; and, promising to 
return in the morning for more provisions, we saun- 
tered back to camp. In our absence the boys had 
" rustled up a fire " and spread out the tent, while 
the " Deacon " had tried his luck with the rod and got 
some fish from the stream. 

The ride had been somewhat dusty ; so the next 
care was to take a bath in the cold snow-fed stream 
that flowed by our camp. Much refreshed and not a 
little chilly, we sat ourselves around the fire, with 
forked sticks broiling our respective chunks of beef, 
to the no slight discomfiture of Deam, who was en- 
deavoring to get the tea aud coffee made and bake 
his batch of bread. Well, by and by we were 
summoned to supper by the soul-stirring cry "Grub- 
pile!" 

Soon, however, a feeling of satiety began to creep 
over each one, and before long the board was deserted 
for the fireside and the pipe, or to rustle up a bed. First 
a rubber blanket was spread down on the floor of 
the tent ; then Old Jim (the name marked on a pet 
buffalo-robe) was spread on top, hair side up ; over 
this, next, a blanket doubled; then another blanket; 
on top of this John (another robe), with one or two 
more blankets, and our overcoats covering all. (It was 
the 18th of August.) The moon was well up in the 
heavens, and, being tired, the fire was deserted and we 
concluded to " turn in ; " so, inflating our air-pillows 
and putting on our boots and sack of cloths, pulling 
on our moccasins and taking up another hole in the 
buckle of our ulster strap, we rolled in between the 
blankets and buffalo-robes. Soon the murmur of 
the stream lulled us to sleep, and we knew nothing 
till it was broad day, though the prairie-wolves had 
howled about us all night. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



25 



It was well on in 
the day when the nu- 
merous packages of 
camp-stuff were all 
packed and ready 
for the march ; but 
at last they were ; 




and, being again in 
the saddle— not a lit- 
tle stiff from the ride 
of the day before — 
we jogged along, 
leaving the pack to 
join us at Fridley's 
Ranche. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Livingston. 

Before the tourist from the East reaches Bozeman 
he must needs stop at Livingston, a thriving town only 
a few months old, yet destined to be a place of no 
little importance in the near future. When we made 
the tour of the Park, in the fall of 1882, Livingston 
did not exist except in name. Then the railroad was 
more than two hundred miles away from it ; now it is 
the terminal point of the Eastern division. So rapid 
is the progress of construction. From this point the 
National Park Branch of the Northern Pacific Rail- 
road will be constructed this season in time for the 
tourists to the Park. The railroad company has 
made extensive improvements at this point, and up- 
ward of twelve hundred people are now on the 
ground, busy in building permanent structures. A 
paper is daily published, and enterprise is stamped 
on everything. 

It is truly amazing how rapidly the country along 
the line of the railroad is settling up. Soon the two 
oceans will be joined by another iron band, and the 
produce of the Indies will reach the Eastern market 
over another and a more direct route. 

But we digress ; let us return to the subject. From 
Livingstou along the west bank of the river is a good 
mountain-road leading to the National Park through 
the Gate of the Mountain. 

The Gate of the Mountain. 
About fifteen miles up the river from Livingston we 
came to the first canon of the Yellowstone River. On 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 27 

either side of the river are rugged mountain-sides ris- 
ing many hundreds of feet from the water-edge. The 
gorge is narrow, and as it is approached from the 
north a most splendid view is obtained of the valley 
beyond. Opening in the near vista is a broad, level 
plain with here and there a high boulder standing 
just where the glacier that has worn it round has left 
it, alone, with few of its kind anywhere in the region 
to condole with it ; and doubtless it will there remain 
for ages to come. 

The Gate of the Mountain, as it is called, is the re- 
sult of the cutting away of the igneous rocks forming 
the mountains of either side. Away back in geologi- 
cal eras the river had a bed high up on the sides of the 
mountain, and doubtless was a stream issuing forth 
from the foot of a gigantic field of ice covering the 
upper region of Yellowstone Valley. The constant 
wear and tear of the ice and the water has cut away 
the mountains ; the glaciers have melted down, and 
now the terraced valley of the Yellowstone River is 
the result. What has caused these results we are at a 
loss to discover ; yet we know that the earth is grow- 
ing warmer, that a larger area is now reclaimed from 
the domain of the Ice-king than was formerly the case. 
Those seas of ice that swept over the Mississippi Val- 
ley have gone ; the days when the elk and the moose 
lived in Northern Germany amid the snow and ice are 
no more ; yet at every hand we see the traces of their 
former presence. 

Upper Yellowstone Valley. 

Passing through the first canon, as we will call the 
Gate of the Mountain, we enter the valley beyond, 
and we are at once convinced of the fact that we are 
in a volcanic region from the difference of the soil and 
other surroundings. 

Immediately the valley widens out into a terraced 
plain probably six to ten miles in width. From the 
foot of the mountain the slope is more abrupt ; then 



28 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

it gradually tapers, till an almost level plain is the 
result, composed, for the most part, of decomposed 
lava or breccia, upon which the prehistoric river has 
deposited alluvium, and now a crop of nutritious though 
short grass covers the entire plain with a green mantle, 
somewhat ashen toward the end of summer, but bright 
enough in the early spring. Since forming the first 
terrace the river has cut out for itself a new channel, 
and left a second terrace of from ten to twenty feet in 
height. The lower terrace is much the most pro- 
ductive, and it is on this that the best ranches have 
been located. 

The tourist must not expect to find in these volcanic 
regions of our globe the richness of fertility he would 
look for in the great limestone valley east of the Alle- 
ghany Mountains. No; the country is, as a rule, more 
sterile in this upper region, but still productive, and 
excellent crops of a certain kind are annually raised, 
some with, others without, irrigation. 

Almost all the way down Trail Creek from the 
Mountain House we find good land, but on the Yel- 
lowstone plateau it is poorer. 

Fridley's Ranche. 

The appointed place of halt for the second day out 
was Fridley's Ranche; and while the pack was coming 
up we took a turn about this typical Yellowstone 
farm. And it is a place where the tourist will always 
find good cheer and hospitable entertainment. The 
proprietor of this establishment is what is technically 
called " a rustler." To some of our readers this term 
may sound a little harsh, but it means a man who has 
energy and pluck and has fought his way to success 
and prosperity through the difficulties that beset him. 
In fact, none but a rustler, as thus described, could 
live in this climate. 

Mr. Fridley has always sustained a reputation for 
setting out a good table for his guest, and we can from 
repeated trials and accumulated evidence render a ver- 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 29 

diet in confirmation of this statement. The principal 
business of this worthy man is stock-raising and the 
gathering of hay, of which his rich meadows yield 
him a magnificent crop ; while his cattle are sleek, 
round and fat, like the rest of the Montana herds. 

Curlew. 

We had ridden hard, and reached our camping- 
ground long before the slow T pack-train came up; and, 
turning our horses loose, we took the gun to hunt some 
fresh meat for supper. Stalking over the plain, our 
intention was attracted by a peculiar whistling noise 
of a low tone, and protracted like the sound of the 
wind among the telegraph-wires in our cities ; and, 
stoppiug to investigate, we found it came from a flock 
of curlew — a bird of the plover family, with a long 
curved bill of perhaps six inches, very narrow and 
fine, and this, cutting the air, gave rise to the sound. 
The birds are of the size of a large partridge or quail, 
and, as we had sampled them on a previous occasion 
and found them excellent eating, wished some for 
supper. Soon they alighted by the side of a little 
slough, and while they stalked about hunting the even- 
ing meal we crept up over cactus and prickly pear to 
get a shot. There were twenty or thirty in the flock ; 
and it may not be out of place to state here that at 
this time of year (August) these birds congregate in 
large flocks. When within convenient distance, we 
opened fire with both barrels, and the result was a 
nice lot of tender birds to be fried that evening by our 
good friend Deam. 

Birds of almost every variety are at some season or 
other found in the Park or along the rivers. We came 
across quantities of suipe, etc.. and could generally sup- 
ply ourselves in this way if the coarser meat gave out. 

Emigrant Gulch. 
While the party are spending the leisure-hours 
around the camp-fire, we will cross the river and take 



30 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

a look at Emigrant Gulch. From the river south- 
eastward the plain is broken into small foot-hills, ris- 
ing higher till we reach the mountain, in which is the 
Gulch. As Hayden says, it probably started in a 
fissure, but is the result of erosion, since it is very nar- 
row and excessively deep, being in length about three 
miles by as many hundred yards in width. At the 
mouth of the Gulch is the town of Chico, or Emi- 
grant, the first being the post-office, the second the 
local, name. Here placer-mines have been worked for 
a number of years, even before the Crow Indians re- 
linquished their claim to that territory. The results 
of the operations have been various : at one time it 
was a good-paying region, and in some places it is still. 
The lower level has been, however, pretty fully worked 
out, and now the miner is pushing his way up to the 
higher, in hope of finding gold in paying quantities. 

Following the trail along the steep sides of the 
mountain, we ascend to a higher level with remarkable 
rapidity, and soon reach a region of great interest to 
the artist. On the one hand, Emigrant Creek dashes 
along in its rocky bed, plunging over boulders, hurl- 
ing smaller stones against each other with great fury 
in the struggle to get to the river. Before you is a 
cataract several hundred feet in height, in which the 
fast-descending snow-water is broken into spray as soon 
as it leaps over the verge, and in showers falls with a 
mighty roar to the bottom of the abyss. Here, gather- 
ing up its energy, it mines out a basin in the solid rock, 
and, as if angry at the precipitous tumble, rushes vig- 
orously on, cutting away the hard granite and lavatic 
rocks in its course, while the rocking pine and spruce 
trees bend their moaning branches to the tempest 
caused by the rushing water. On the other side rises 
the bald gray mountain-side. It is a wild spot. 

Crossing the stream, we climb higher and higher, over 
the crest of the falls, and still up over glaciers and snow- 
drifts, till we reach the upper level, which is rather more 
barren. Here the industrious miner has claimed the 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 31 

use of the boisterous mountain-torrent, confining it 
within a narrow sluice, and, with it washes the disin- 
tegrated granite and gneiss to rob it of its glittering 
gold. Far up into the blue sky reaches the summit 
of Emigrant Peak, twelve thousand feet above the sea- 
level, bald and cold, covered with snow, which at times 
slides down the mountain-side, grinding rocks to powder 
in its course. There is the abode of the mountain-sheep, 
and, with the glass, they may be seen feeding on the 
scanty growth of lichens and moss clinging to the 
rocks, climbing in Indian file over the sharp stones 
with a steady tread, and over heights where but 
a single misstep would hurl them into the roaring 
canon below. It is truly an Alpine picture. 

Bear Gulch and Mill Creek. 
Bear Gulch is a similar crevass in the mountain- 
side, cut out by the ice and frosts of bygone ages, 
leaving a field for the gold-miner, while Mill Creek 
gives him a fine opportunity to display his ingenuity 
in working the base metal ores for silver and lead. 




CHAPTER V. 
Cinnabar Mountain. 

Having returned to camp, we are called to supper, 
and with relish the slices of dripping bacon are de- 
molished and the biscuits, hot from the pan, disap- 
pear ; and, free from any dread of consequent dys- 
peptic attacks, we lie down to rest. 

At dawn the crackling of the fire arouses the slum- 
berer and announces that day is at hand. Soon all is 
astir, the animals packed, and we are pushing on to 
Cinnabar Mountain, which is on the west side of the 
river, where the strata of rocks have been upheaved 
to such an extent that they stand almost vertical and 
look like immense stone walls built to protect the 
mountain from an attack. It is called Cinnabar 
Mountain from the fact that some of the strata have a 
red color, which was supposed to be due to the pres- 
ence of cinnabar; but there is really no mercury in 
this mountain at all, the red color being due to the 
iron. Yet, notwithstanding this misnomer, it is a very 
curious place, and well deserves our attention. 

There area number of these strata superimposed 
one upon the other, all nearly vertical and parallel, 
composed of alternate layers of hard felspathic rock, 
with granite, limestone and clay, giving to the whole 
mountain a most peculiar appearance. Toward the 
southern end of this series is what is known as the 

The Devil's Slide. 
The Devil's Slide attracts the eye at once, and is a 
very conspicuous object in the landscape. A bed of 
32 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 33 

quartzite forms one of the walls, which is nearly ver- 
tical and rises over a hundred feet above the adjacent 
strata. An intervale of about one hundred and fifty 
feet reaches to the south wall, having a clayey soil 
mixed with gypsum and supporting a few scattered 
pines. The south wall, or dike, is very compact tra- 
chyte, standing nearly vertical, eighty feet in thick- 
ness, and at some points two hundred feet high. Prof. 
Hayden save: " It is probable that this igneous mass 
was thrust up between the strata since they were ele- 
vated to their present position." If so, the power that 
has lifted this tremendous rock-mass and thrust it up 
between the superimposed strata cannot be conceived 
even with our most exalted imagination : in the calcu- 
lation there is an immensity that baffles the mind. 

From a distance the slide looks like the coasting- 
places made by boys on a hillside, as it gradually 
slopes from the summit toward the base of the moun- 
tain and there expands out over the plain. 

Second Canon. 

South of Cinnabar Mountain, still travelling up the 
river, we come upon a plain — in fact, a continuation 
of the former one, but its character, geologically speak- 
ing, is changed. Here we enter upon a truly vol- 
canic region. The bed of the plain is composed of 
volcanic sand and gravel, with here and there a slough 
of stagnant water left by the melting snows of last 
season. 

Soon the walls of rock between which we have been 
travelling draw nearer together and hem us in as with 
gigantic arms, leaving only a very narrow canon be- 
tween them. On the left, or west, bank of the river, 
a road has been made, cut out of the cliffs which stand 
up on both sides of the river with defiant aspect. The 
road is good for its kind and the region of country, 
but the manner in which it approaches the precipice 
above the river and the rugged ness of the way make 
it dangerous save for the traveller on a sure-footed 



34 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PAKK. 



cayuse. On the east bank of the river there is no 
way except by a very rough trail that winds its course 
in among the jutting crags, which often approach the 




x 4 r o 



SECOND CANON. 



river so closely that the animals with their packs 
scrape against the rocks as they pick their way like 
goats from one stone to another. Beneath them the 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 35 

foaming river plunges along in its deep and nar- 
row bed. This manner of travelling is very tedious, 
and the dangerous roughness of the path generally 
compels the traveller to dismount and lead his animal. 
The river, from this point up to the falls in the 
Grand Canon, is of a most brilliant emerald-green 
color, and the effect produced by the caps of white 
foam that mark sunken rocks or curl in eddies from 
the sides of the cliff as the stream dashes against it is 
most pleasing to the lover of the picturesque, while the 
cool, deep eddying pools furnish matter of interest to 
the angler, whose flitting fly here seldom fails to tempt 
many tine large trout. But the angler, in climbing 
among these rocks, will need to keep a sharp lookout 
for snakes, of which the canon, on the east side, is said 
to be full ; yet we saw but one, and that a very small 
specimen of rattling variety. Still, it is as well to be 
cautious in that region. At night we halted at 

Yankee Jim's. 

" Yankee Jim's " is the toll-gate, and the only one 
on the road — the only obstacle to a free and untram- 
melled visit to the Park ; and, as the toll is only " two 
bits'' (fifty cents) per head for horses and pack-ani- 
mals, the tourist does not complain, so long as the 
road is good. This is the only extortion practised in 
the Park or its neighborhood, excepting, of course, the 
toll at bridges and ferries, which in every case is " two 
bits," the fip-penny bit (twenty-five cents) being the 
monetary standard in that vicinity. 

The country, apart from its geologic interest, is 
somewhat monotonous and tiresome ; so that when the 
traveller reaches Yankee Jim's he is glad to dismount 
and spread his blanket on the sand beneath the willows 
and cottonwoods after his bath in the cool river, and 
snooze for an hour or so in the shade, or watch the 
stately crane as he stalks up and down the little island 
in the river seeking his prey. 

While we lay at Yankee Jim's the party amused 



36 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

themselves in a variety of ways. Some of them wan- 
dered up on the mountain-side with their guns on their 
shoulders, and ere nightfall returned with a plentiful 
supply of "narrow-gauge mules" (jack-rabbits), elk- 
antlers, etc., trophies of the hunt. Others, after scram- 
bling about the short grass for " hoppers," consuming 
more time by far in procuring the bait than is re- 
quired to catch a large mess of those Yellowstone 
trout, struck off for the river, crossed by the ferry, 
and were soon engaged in angling among the eddies of 
that emerald stream. 

So agreeable was the sport that it was late in 
the evening, supper was over, and the shades of night 
were settling down, when, lo ! above the raging of the 
torrent a voice was heard in earnest accents calling, 
" Over !" They were over, that is a fact — over on the 
other side of the river, with a swift current and no 
means of crossing save by a cranky little boat. Still 
the loud call was repeated, and one after the other of 
the party on the near side was appealed to to brave 
the torrent and " rescue the perishing," but to no 
avail. At length the ferryman was solicited, and with 
impatient and commanding voice called out, " Go 
round." We will not chronicle what the murmuring 
breeze wafted back from the farther shore. Still, the 
fish were eaten with a relish, for they were fine ones, 
and we have a fondness for good trout. 

On up the river we travelled, and now our course 
lay over a more broken country with a road-bed stud- 
ded here and there with bits of agate, obsidian and 
jasper, some of them beautifully anuulated, some 
deep blood-red in color, while others were bright yel- 
low. Where the fragments came from is not very 
clear, since there is no evidence of larger masses in the 
neighboring hills, except of the moss-agate, which is 
in some places abundant, sticking in the igneous rocks 
along the roadside. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 37 

Gardiner River and McCartney's Ranch. 

All along the Yellowstone River, up to the mouth 
of Gardiner River, on the west side, ranches are to be 
met with. Not that there are none on the east, for 
the met is that there are ; but the road on the west side 
furnishes a means of transportation, and that stimu- 
lates settlement. It is a matter of astonishment how 
rich the grass and the verdure in those spots are where 
the mountain-streams, descending to the river, flow 
over the expanded plain; and when the industrious 
farmer has dug his trench and irrigated his fields, 
the result is wonderful. Large crops of wheat audi 
Other grains and hay have been raised, and much more 
can be done in this line. The reason that irrigation 
has not been more extensively practised is found in 
the want of transportation for the surplus crop. 

The last ranch before entering the National Park 
is that of McCartney, mentioned on a previous page. 
This ranch is not far from the confluence of the Yel- 
lowstone and the Gardiner Rivers, and has for some 
years been a point where the miner and the prospector 
repair from the mines of Clarke's Fork to procure 
his "grub-stakes" and forward his order for supplies 
to Bozeman through the mail or by Arnold's freight- 
line. Soon the march of civilization will do away 
with these primitive means of transportation. In fact, 
even now the shrill whistle of the locomotive is heard 
in the canons of the Yellowstone, and McCartney's 
will before long become a place of magnificent pro- 
portions. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Mammoth Hot Springs, or White Mountain 
Hot Springs. 

Leaving McCartney's ranch and crossing a small 
stream by a log bridge spanning a deep ravine, we are 
in the Yellowstone National Park, and here we enter 
upon the contemplation of the pith of our narrative, 
that which has gone before being in a measure intro- 
ductory. 

Winding along the hillside by a fairly graded road, 
always ascending, we come to ponds lying in a bed of 
soft alkaline clay with margins covered with rank 
rushes and weeds, and frequented by numerous snipe 
and other water-fowl excellent for the table. Going 
into camp by the side of a fine stream of clear, pure 
water, we waited for day, while our animals roamed 
over the grassy slopes of the neighboring hill, lux- 
uriating in the rich herbage. Just here we must 
mention one matter that may annoy the fastidious 
traveller in this particular spot — namely, the dust. 
The tramp of animals and the frequent visits of 
travellers to this locality have killed the grass, and 
hence more dust is met with than is pleasant. 

As old Sol was climbing the eastern sky we 
gathered about the camp-table (after breaking the 
ice in the stream to make our toilet), and after a 
hearty breakfast started to " do " the Mammoth Hot 
Springs. Winding down from the hills, we came out 
upon the valley of the hot springs. The calcareous 
deposits of these springs cover an area of about two 
square miles, and the active springs extend from the 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



39 



margin of the Gardiner River, the altitude of which 
is five thousand five hundred and forty-five feet above 
sea-level, rising higher and higher as we ascend the 




ASOIOTH HOT SP1UNGS. 



ravine 

nearly one 

thousand 

feet, the up- 

per bank 

(according 

to Hayden) being six thousand 

five hundred and twenty-two \ N \ \ \ 

feet in height. ^1 

From'the river up the ravine the material covering 
the surface of the ground looks like the refuse about 
an old disused furnace, and one or two depressions are 
met with filled with water and decomposed rock, form- 
ing a thick deposit of semi-solid clay to the depth of 



40 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



several inches, and tinted with a va- 
riety of colors. These probably, in 
by-gone ages, were the vents of some 
spring or mud geyser. At a distance 
of about two miles from the 




HOT SPRINGS. 



river are some hot springs to which persons suffering 
with cutaneous diseases resort ; those who have tested 
their merits are loud in their praises of the beneficial 



LAP OF 

wmMM I* a six 

UOLE RIVER. 




MAP OF 

WB&EM GKYSJM BASIN 

FIRE ROLE RIVER. 




YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PAEK. 41 

effect produced by these waters. " The basins of these 
springs are nearly circular, six to ten feet in diameter, 
with a temperature of from 100° to 200° F." 

Some distance farther on over the same calcareous 
white deposit we come to the main body of springs, 
clustered together on a hill upward of two hundred 
feet high, whose sides are laid off in terraces com- 
posed of the calcareous deposit from the springs them- 
selves. The number of springs is not very great, but 
the beauty is surpassing and almost beyond descrip- 
tion ; yet we cannot pass them unnoticed. 

The uppermost spring has a temperature (according 
to Hayden) of 112° F., and is at the height of six 
thousand five hundred and twenty-two feet above tide. 
The lowest is at the river-banks, with a temperature of 
145° F. and an altitude of five thousand five hundred 
and forty-five feet, or over a mile above the sea. The 
hottest spring is at the altitude of six thousand two hun- 
dred and fifty-four feet, and has a temperature of 163° F. 

Most of the hot springs throughout the Park build 
up about their mouths bowls or craters of a white cal- 
careous and siliceous material, called geyserite, which 
is composed of carbonate of lime, chloride of calcium, 
carbonate of magnesia, carbonate of strontia, carbon- 
ate of soda, carbonate of potassa, sulphate of mag- 
nesia, sulphur and silica. In New Zealand the hot 
springs deposit a material which contains more silica 
than is found in the geyserite of the National Park. 

In the case of the Mammoth Hot Springs, the en- 
tire spring-formation lies in a ravine or gulch between 
hills which are fertile and covered with grass and 
sturdy pines. The general shape is like a wedge, the 
smaller end being toward the summit of the ravine, 
while the base spreads out over the plain below. 

The springs, as before stated, are located on dif- 
ferent benches or terraces, and have at different pe- 
riods of their existence changed their respective po- 
sitions, as on the same level there may be an active 
spring in the midst of a cluster of remains of extinct 



42 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

ones, and whether they were ever connected with the 
present active ones no one can tell. 

On the upper bench is a single spring, with at pres- 
ent a meagre overflow ; yet in days gone by other and 
larger springs discharged their waters on the same ter- 
race, for there are the yawning craters and the scalloped 
margins of the basins, with occasionally a stream of 
hot sulphurous steam issuing forth from the crater and 
studding the mouth and throat of the crater with fine 
needle-shaped crystals of sulphur. On a lower bench 
is a collection of springs — as the Blue Spring, the 
Main Spring, etc. — on a terrace of from one hundred 
and forty to one hundred and fifty yards in diameter. 

The appearance of the Blue Spring is certainly be- 
yond the reach of words to describe, and you stand 
upon the spongy white margin and look into the seeth- 
ing, steaming water — down, down into the azure 
depths, lost in contemplation as to where it all comes 
from and what causes it. The water is intensely hot 
and of an ultramarine blue color ; the sides of the 
well are of a paler tint, and are fringed with long white 
filaments of gelatinous matter that vibrate up and 
down with the force of the ever-rising current, drawing 
themselves out in trailing fringes at the margin of 
the crater and along the little watercourses flowing 
toward the margin of the basin. Here and there 
the beds of these little streams are bright with the 
golden yellow of deposited sulphur. The surcharged 
water, while hot, carries its calcareous burden for 
some time; but as it gradually cools the deposit of a 
delicate wall of lime, silica and other matters takes 
place, forming a barrier with a most exquisitely scal- 
loped margin, just as slowly -freezing water from a 
spring will build its ice-terraces one upon the other, 
except that the little pools in the case of the springs 
remain fluid, and are either hot or warm according to 
circumstances. Gradually these walls thicken, and 
by the accumulations of ages what may be called a 
mound of springs has formed, over the sides of which 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 43 

the water, ever flowing, still adds more deposits to the 
surface, till the result produces a most remarkable 
effect of stalactite, stalagmite, fringe, and scallop, with 
a combination of color which is absolutely unique. 
Here the sides will be of a spotless white, sparkling 
with the trickling water; there, of a red or yellow 
color, from the deposit of iron or other mineral matter ; 
in other places, a bright rich green, from the growth 
of a minute plant. At places you will meet patches 
of a deeper brown color, and the whole effect is won- 
derful. A not less curious phenomenon is the rapid- 
ity with which the deposit is formed, for a horseshoe, 
a piece of tin or a twig of a tree, a pine-cone or other 
object, placed in such a position that the water trickles 
over it, will in ten days have on it a coating of the 
white matter one-eighth of an inch in thickness, and 
even the string that suspends the object will have be- 
come a solid rod twice its original thickness ; but it 
is fragile, and cannot be preserved. 

Near the upper terrace are a number of extinct ob- 
long geyser-cones, some of which have been so broken 
down as to show them to be a mere shell or cavern, 
which in some cases have become the abodes of wild 
animals. One of them was found to contain sticks 
and bones, carried there by animals, and swarms of 
bats flitted to and fro. In places the crust is broken, 
showing great numbers of layers of sediment, and some 
of the mounds are overgrown with trees at least one 
hundred years old. In many places the remains of 
trees stand embedded in the crust of a basin or pool, 
or are buried to a depth of eight or ten feet. 

It is a well-observed fact that the force of these 
springs is diminishing, and each year marks a decrease 
in the flow ; whether they will in time become entirely 
extinct or break forth in another place is a problem yet 
unsettled. There is unmistakable evidence that the 
forces at work here were formerly more violent than 
they are at present, since we find on the lower terrace 
the remains of geysers and thermal springs now extinct. 



44 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



Liberty Cap. 

One of these former springs is the Liberty Cap. 
Standing on the spongy, hollow-sounding crust is a 
conical mound of this same white deposit, rising to 
the height of fifty feet, with a base twenty feet in diam- 
eter, and from its form called " Liberty Cap." It is 
undoubtedly the remains of a geyser, and has piled 
itself up here by the successive deposits of geyserite in 
layers one upon the other in infinite numbers. The 
upper layers are more or less striated, resembling the 
thatching of a roof, and the whole is perforated by a 
tube, through which the water was ejected. The same 
cone-forming action is now going on at the Beehive and 
other active geysers in the Upper Basin. It is said 
that a fine large spring made its first appearance in the 
main terrace in August, 1870 ; so they come and go. 

The theory of the origin of these springs, as given by 
Professor Hayden and others, is that the water, finding 
its way down into the earth to a great depth and be- 
coming greatly heated, is forced up through the super- 
imposed strata, finding its way through the deposits 
of limestone and other rocks, dissolving and carry- 
ing with it silica and other ingredients of the rocks, 
and finally emerging upon the surface and deposit- 
ing the salts as geyserite. Yet still the matter is not 
satisfactorily explained, for we find two kinds of 
springs — one in which the siliceous matters predomi- 
nate, in the other the calcareous — both coming out 
upon the same level, and often near each other. 
Again, one spring will have a high temperature, 
while its neighbor, on the same plane, not over a few 
yards distant, will be much cooler. It may be argued 
that they come from different depths, and hence the 
difference in temperature. True ; but how does it hap- 
pen that in coming up from the lower regions they 
did not strike the same fissures in the rocks, seeing they 
are so near together on the surface ? As in the case 
of many other natural phenomena, we must accept the 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 45 

fact and await future developments for the solution 
of the problem. By experiments, it is found that 
certain springs deposit ge\*serite on the sides of the 
basin and on objects placed iu it at the rate of one- 
eighth of an inch in ten days under favorable circum- 
stances ; yet it must not be inferred that this is the 
invariable rule. 

We might fill volumes with the descriptions of this 
wonder ; but, with the knowledge that there are other 
wonders to be seen, we pass on. 

Hot Baths. 

We cannot leave this subject without mentioning 
the hot baths. All over the crusts of the different 
terraces are, as has been mentioned, small basins 
containing water of almost any temperature desired ; 
but bathing in these pools cannot be accomplished 
with comfort, since the pools are almost always too 
shallow to admit of it. Yet bath-houses have beeu 
constructed, where a most delightful bath may be had, 
the hot mineral water acting on the system very hap- 
pily, and leaving the bather in a splendid glow, with 
all his pores open and his skin clean and cool. It is a 
feature of these springs that the water is soft and will 
admit of the use of soap in washing, and that it is also, 
when cold, good as a beverage — healthful, though not 
always pleasant to the taste. The bath is capable of 
regulation as to temperature, but generally the first 
impression is that of a degree of heat that can hardly 
be endured. Still, it is not long before the tempera- 
ture becomes pleasant, and the bath generally lasts an 
hour or so. 

Analysis shows the solid mineral constituents of these 
waters to be carbonate of calcium, chloride of calcium, 
sulphate of magnesia, silica, sulphur and a trace of 
iron — a composition which appears to be useful in a 
wide range of diseases. 

In all the pools and basins of these wonderful hot- 
springs formations there will be found round pebbly 



46 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

masses of geyserite of a greater or less size, from that 
of a pea to that of a large walnut, with something of 
the appearance of a cauliflower, but rounded from 
the rolling of the mass against the sides and rim of 
the basins. They are undoubtedly the accretions ob- 
tained from the saturated water as it becomes cooled 
in its contact with the sides of the basin. In some 
places they cover the ground to the depth of several 
inches and crunch beneath the foot of a person walk- 
ing over them. 

Hospitality of Mr. Henderson and his Family. 

The day being far spent, we climbed up the rounded 
hill on which stands the headquarters building to 
register our names, and found the superintendent away 
from home, but Assistant Superintendent Henderson 
was present, and showed himself very hospitable; 
and from him and his family we learned many in- 
teresting facts relating to the Park. 

In front of the veranda of the headquarters is a 
h itching-post, and it was affirmed that during the win- 
ter of 1881-82 elks (not the moose or true elk, but 
the wapiti) came up to that post and were shot, and 
that on the hot-springs formation elks are very plen- 
tiful in winter. This story seems surprising, but there 
is abundant evidence to substantiate it. 

At nightfall our host insisted that we come out and 
look at the springs through the glass as they were lit 
up by the setting sun, and we beheld a magnificent 
sight, and one that no tourist should fail to see, since 
it costs nothing but a climb to the top of the hill — 
only eighty-four feet, and the climb is not a hard one 
to make. 

Returning to the house — for by this time the sun 
had set — our warm-hearted friends insisted that we 
should take tea with them, and, even though our coats 
had been left in camp and our tout ensemble was 
tramp-like in the extreme, they prevailed upon us ; 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 47 

and it was late in the evening and the moon near the 
zenith when we reached camp. 

Hot Spring in Gardiner River. 
While sitting about the stove — for it was cold — Mr. 
Henderson told us of a curious freak of nature in the 
Gardiner River. At one place in the middle of the 
river is the crater of one of these hot springs, from 
which the hot water is constantly issuing ; and its in- 
fluence on the stream is such that in the river there is 
a hot current of water running between two cold ones, 
and for a long distance these currents do not mingle, 
but remain separate. This middle stream is so hot 
that you can stand on the bank of the river, catch a 
trout, throw him into the middle of the stream with 
your line, and in a few minutes cook him. The ex- 
periment is one easily made, and the traveller can 
easily verify or disprove the statement for himself. 
This peculiarity is not confined to this one spot, how- 
ever, as we shall see farther on. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Swan Lake and Moe asses. 

Having put some horseshoes under the trickling 
water to get them coated with geyserite, we took the 
road up the north-eastern side of the springs-forma- 
tion, over the hollow crust, that sounded deep and 
sepulchral, as if it might at any moment give way 
and engulf the whole party. 

Lone Star Geyser — " The Orange." 
Higher and higher we climbed, now on the upper 
terrace, now in the pines, again emerging on to a still 
higher " springs-formation," where to the left of the 
road stands the crater of the Lone Star Geyser, a huge 
mass of geyserite with a globular shape, having on its 
sides ridges and markings of yellow and buff, resem- 
bling an orange ; hence the name. It is called the 
"Lone Star" from its solitary situation. The times 
of eruption are uncertain ; now it is little more than 
a spring w r ith an elevated crater. 

Soon the road begins to climb at a grade that for 
a wagon-road is truly surprising. We do not think 
the grade has ever been measured, but others have 
said of it : " Leaving the Mammoth Springs, the tour- 
ist begins the ascent of Terrace Mountain, over the 
excellently, graded but wonderfully steep wagon-road. 
. . . With a loaded wagon and four horses, this three 
miles of road is a fair half day's work. It is not one 
continuous grade or hill, but a succession of hills," to 
the height of three thousand feet. This may not have 
been intended for sarcasm, but it certainly looks very 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 49 

like it. In fact, there is much truth in the asser- 
tion; for so steep is the climb that if the tail-board 
of a wagon falls out, as it may do, the whole load is 
promptly dumped out in the road. A good road, 
though a longer one, might have been built over the 
same ground. 

Rustic Falls. 

On reaching the summit of this grade the country 
opens out into a beautiful meadow, and after travel- 
ling for about a mile and a half, a trail to the left, 
for about one half mile farther, brings the traveller to 
the Rustic Falls, at the head of the canon of the " West 
Gardiner River." The falls are described as follows : 
" The water falls here sixty feet over a large slightly- 
curved rock of this height. The surface of the rock 
is wrought into shallow basins of saucer-like shape on 
the surface, and the descending sheet of water is 
broken into such form that it presents a rustic ap- 
pearance. The falls are five miles from the Mam- 
moth Hot Springs." 

The upland meadow through which the road takes 
its course from the summit of Terrace Hill, which we 
have just climbed, is beautifully rolling and covered 
with rich herbage, with here and there a clump of 
pines nodding to the passing breeze ; while ever and 
anon the bleached skull and horns of a buffalo are 
found by the wayside. On the east Bunsen Peak, a 
rugged mountain-summit, rears itself up to a height 
of eight thousand seven hundred and seventy-five feet, 
with its bald sides cut and furrowed with many a deep 
gash. To the west on the distant horizon rises the 
pyramidal summit of "Quadrate Mountain," tower- 
ing up to ten thousand and twelve feet. The name 
is given it from its square shape, being built up on 
four sides like a pyramid, which it very much re- 
sembles, the horizontal strata of rock having the ap- 
pearance of so many courses of stone laid in regular 
order. 



50 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

Castle Rock. 

At the foot of " Quadrate MountaiD," to the south- 
ward, is Castle Hock, a pile of igneous rock so cut 
and worn away by the elements that it now looks 
like one of the ruined castles of the Rhine, or like 
some dilapidated old fortress in England. 

The sides of Quadrate Mountain are most gorgeous 
in their tints, and from the valley the view is most 
pleasing, with a green carpet in the foreground and a 
cluster of dark pine trees with their branches to re- 
lieve the monotony. The distant mountain with its 
banded sides of pink, yellow, gray and black in hori- 
zontal layers, a capping of snow, and above all the 
clear blue azure sky, make a picture that is not 
easily forgotten. 

Swan Lake, or Annie's Lake. 

To the west of the road, in the grassy meadow 
through which we have been travelling, is a small lake, 
perhaps half a mile in length by a few hundred yards 
in width, which we were informed was once covered w 7 ith 
ducks and swans; hence the name. (It has been called 
Annie's Lake by some authorities; and the multiplicity 
of synonymsthat have been given to many of the points 
of interest within the Park render it difficult for any one 
to guide the tourist, but we have in this work adopted 
the nomenclature of Professor Haydeu, and, so far as 
possible, give that of others also.) The margin of the 
lake, on the east side, is low and grassy, and the surface 
of the water is rendered unapproachable for some yards 
by the bogs, or morasses, and reeds growing at the edge, 
except at one point, which is covered with sage-bush 
and willows. The west bank is steep and rocky, and 
not easy of approach. 

We needed some fresh meat, and determined, if 
possible, to have some duck; so we rode to the edge 
of the lake and scanned the margin. The wind was 
toward us, and the ducks were on the other side of the 
Jake, on the lee-shore. We started after them, follow- 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



51 



ing around the edge of the lake, our horses sinking 
into the oozy earth at every step. We finally dis- 
mounted and crept on, and on reaching a little clump 
of willows came upon a fine flock of mallard duck 




a day's sporting. 

and blue-wing teal. A¥e emptied both barrels, scat- 
tering the flock in all directions. Leaving the dead 
ducks to drift to the eastern shore, we mounted to go 
in quest of the survivors, that had flown to a smaller 
lake to the southward. Following an old game-trail, 
we were suddenly brought to a stand by the founder- 



52 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

ing of the horse, "who had sunk up to his belly in a 
bog, from which it was some time before we could ex- 
tricate him. His plunging had thrown the rider and 
gun off into the mud, filling the latter up to the muz- 
zle. By dint of tugging at the bridle we got the horse 
on his back, and he then kicked himself on to solid 
ground and regained his feet. Remembering that a 
mule had been lost entirely in this bog, we concluded 
to experiment no further, so picked up our birds and 
pushed on. 

A few miles farther on we again came to the Gardi- 
ner River, flowing eastward, a clear stream of water 
full of deep grassy pools — just such places as the ang- 
ler feels he must cast a fly into. But 'tis of no use : 
there is not a single trout in this stream ; which is 
strange, but true. 

Willow Park. 

Following up the Obsidian Creek, just before reach- 
ing the canon we came to Willow Park, which is one 
of the finest camping-places in the Park. It is the 
point where the wagon-equipped tourist must stop for 
the night, but pack-trains may push on much farther. 
It is ten miles from the Mammoth Hot Springs, and 
two miles from Obsidian Cliff. 

On leaving Willow Park the road soon enters a 
stretch of dense forest of pines through which the 
way has been cut, and the cool shade is very grateful, 
as the tourist is at this time of the day somewhat 
weary. "Pine" squirrels are abundant and in good 
condition in the thicket, and not a few of them went 
.to fill our game-bag. 

Obsidian Cliff. 
After riding ten miles in the timber, crossing the 
creek to the east bank again, you come out at the foot 
of Obsidian Cliff, and near Beaver Lake. The valley 
stretching to the westward is peculiar in appearance, 
being shut off on the north end by a cliff of obsidian,, or 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 53 

volcanic glass, as black as jet and rising to the height 
of many hundred feet, of a clearly columnar structure : 
it seems to have crystallized from a melted mass, being 
composed of six-sided columns resembling the basalt 
composing the Giants' Causeway. It is difficult to be- 
lieve that the huge mass of glass was poured out over 
the valley at one time from the interior of the earth, 
yet such must have been the case. The whole region 
in its vicinity is volcanic and curious. The road has 
been quarried out from the sides of this cliff, and for 
miles before it is reached and after passing it more or legs 
glass may be seen on the wayside. As stated, the color 
of the obsidian is, in general, black, but some pieces have 
a variegated appearance, being streaked with red and 
brown, due to iron, and are very beautiful. In thin lay- 
ers the whole is transparent, showing that the coloring- 
matter must have been thoroughly fused into the silica. 

At the base of the cliff, to the right of the road, is 
a most beautiful clear, deep spring with a rim of moss 
growing all around it, and from the blue depths bub- 
bles of gas constantly arise. Climbing over the broken 
masses of obsidian, we went down to examine the spring, 
and found it cold, with a very peculiar taste of alum 
and iron with sulphur, the gas being apparently car- 
bonic acid. The water has a sparkling appearance, re- 
sembling that of champagne, and is similar in charac- 
ter to that from the Soda Butte Spring; of which more 
anon. The taste of the water, though peculiar, is not 
unpleasant, and a great fondness is soon acquired for it. 

The tourist must not venture to walk about on the 
soft mire surrounding the spring, for the ground is 
very treacherous and quicksands are abundant. There 
is no danger if the footing is made sure of before tak- 
ing a step, but care must be exercised at all times in 
this region. 

Beaver Lake. 

Southward from the cliff stretches the Beaver Lake, 
a small sheet of water surrounded by high cliffs of vol- 
4 



54 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, 

came rocks and hard stones, and tapering off into 
marshes so filled with quagmire that the hunter will 
:avoid them except in winter. On this lake flocks of 
•ducks and other water-fowl may be seen at all times in 
summer; but, the banks being dangerous, the birds 
remain in safety. Here, too, are seen the evidences 
•of the former industry of the beaver in the gnawed 
trees and mud-dams ; but the builders have long since 
fallen a prey to the traps of the hunter. 

The view of this lake and valley in the light of a 
'declining sun is very fine, as the atmosphere is at that 
time of day golden, and from the clear bosom of the 
lake the tall pine trees are reflected with perfect clear- 
ness as from a mirror. 

The water of this lake and that of the neighboring 
ponds is of a peculiar blue color, differing from that 
of the geyser region, as it is not so clear a blue, but 
has a greenish tint. 

Leaving the lake to the right, the road turns to the 
eastward and ascends a series of hills. Having climbed 
nearly to the summit, we found a small clear stream 
flowing through the moss and grass over a bright 
sandy bottom, and concluded to take our lunch and 
wait for the packs. Having opened the lunch-pocket 
and turned the horses loose, we proceeded to the re- 
past; but, lo! the water was "Mara" — a strong solu- 
tion of alum and sulphur, which came down from the 
neighboring hot springs, situated to the right of the 
road, in the trees. The horses having taken a hearty 
meal on the rich grass, we mounted and were soon 
pushing on to overtake our pack-train, which had 
come up and preceded us. 

Black-Tail Deer. 
The shotgun w r as over the bow of the saddle, and 
we were climbing a steep grade in the road through 
a cut in the white sandstone, when, on lifting the eye 
to the bluff by the roadside, only a few yards distant, 
stood a fine black-tail deer with large branching autlers.. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK:. 55 

He did not appear much astonished — not nearly so 
much so as the rider, who stopped his horse and, dis- 
mounting, proceeded to draw the fine shot and load 
with " buck," leaving the horse in the road. By this 
time the deer concluded to move off and gently trot- 
ted back from the bluff. Following as rapidly as pos- 
sible up the steep bank, stopping for breath, we again 
found ourselves within a few yards of the buck, who 
stood with muzzle up, sniffing about, but so secreted 
among the lodge-poles that with shot it was impossi- 
ble to kill him; so we crept toward him, keeping well 
hidden among the trees. But before getting to the 
glades he took fright, and, frisking his brush, dashed 
off through the trees and was lost, to the utter discom- 
fiture of his pursuer, who with chagrin returned to 
find his cayuse. 

Lake of the Woods — Gibbon Lake. 

Reaching the summit of the divide which separates 
the waters of the Gibbon River from the Yellowstone, 
we come to the Lake of the Woods, or -Gibbon Lake 
— a beautiful sheet of water surrounded by pine for- 
ests and rich meadows — from which flows one arm of 
the Gibbon River. This lake is seven thousand seven 
hundred and sixty feet above tide, and is a resort for 
the larger game — elk and black-tail deer — at certain 
seasons of the year, though at the time of our visit 
(August) the game was higher up, near the snow-line, 
to avoid the flies. 

Old Sulphur Springs. 

Soon after passing the Lake of the Woods a collec- 
tion of old sulphur springs are passed, on the right of 
the road, emitting a very offensive odor of sulphur- 
etted hydrogen, which bubbles up through yellowish 
water from the deposited sulphur covered with a thick 
scum — altogether, a very uncanny place. All around 
this spot for many hundred yards is the debris from 



56 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



these springs, which at one time may have been active 
geysers. Soon, however, we descend by a gradual 
slope to the fine grassy meadow at the head of the 
Gibbon River. A very remarkable feature of this 
Park region is the fine meadows of rich grass with 
which it abounds. 




CHAPTER VIII. 

Norris Geyser Basin, or Gibbon Geyser Basin. 

Nightfall brought us to the edge of the Norris 
Geyser Basin — or Gibbou Geyser Basin, as it is other- 
wise called — and we halted for the night on the beau- 
tiful lawn by the side of the river. While supper was 
preparing we took our accustomed bath — this time 
in the clear water of the river, so cold that a few 
seconds sufficed for the plunge. The water is excel- 
lent and is pure, being fresh from the snow-capped 
mountains surrounding the basin. To the south and 
west of our camp, through the trees, was visible the 
steam from the hot springs and geysers ; and, as Hay- 
den has aptly observed, the valley looks like an im- 
mense manufacturing town with the jets of steam from 
its many factories. 

On the morrow, as the sun was shining through the 
cloud of mist and steam, we were awakened by the 
hoarse croaking of the blue cranes as they waded 
about in the marshes and streams feeding the river. 
Their note is most peculiar, and resembles the noise 
made by a mechanic pounding rapidly on the end of a 
stick of dry timber. It is shrill, and can be heard for 
more than a mile in the clear atmosphere of the Park. 

Learning that the crane was a favorite dish among 
the mountaineers, we resolved to have a trial of the 
flesh for our morning meal ; so, shouldering the gun, 
we tramped off through the dewy, frosty grass in the 
direction of the voice, but found our prey far, far oif 
in the marshes, where no shot or foot could reach him. 

Somewhat mortified at this ill-success, we returned to 
camp by another route, and found the way leading to 

57 



58 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PAEK. 

a curious bare earthy spot of several acres in area, 
from which, at different points, small puffs of steam 
were arising. On closer examination we ascertained 
that they were f urn a roles, or vent-holes, and, breaking 
open the crust, found the tubes lined with most beau- 
tiful crystals of sulphur. In some places the steam 
hissed and sputtered out from a narrow crack ; in 
others, it came up as if through the huge mouth of an 
exhaust-pipe. A little farther on is a collection of 
small mud geysers and springs, where the slate-colored 
clay is all the time boiling up in little mounds, some- 
times shooting up higher, then sinking lower, but 
never ceasing to boil. 

After spending some hours in watching these curious 
phenomena, we returned, to find the pack almost ready 
for the march ; and, hastily breakfasting, we mounted. 
Taking the road, we soon entered the active portion of 
the basin, which seems dreary and uninviting, as the 
trees are mostly dead and fhe earth has a more or less 
yellow coat from the intermixed sulphur, and the air 
is tainted with the fumes of sulphuretted hydrogen. 
But still there is much to interest even here. To the 
right hand of the road are a number of boiling springs 
of various colors — some blue, others green, while 
others are yellow — each having an edge more or less 
scalloped and friuged with beaded rocks of geyser- 
ite. Here we find the first important geyser ; from 
this point to the end of the upper basin we en- 
counter a greater or less number of these curious 
waterspouts. The number of large geysers in this 
basin is small, and on that account the guides are dis- 
posed to hasten the traveller on to the other and more 
noted basins; but these springs are curious, and in 
some features unique, so we stop to examine them. 

Constant. 
On the plain to the south-west, in what is known 
as the " Porcelain Vale," is the " Constant," a geyser 
throwing up a column of water every thirty seconds. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 59 

Fountain. 
Near it are the " Twins " and the " Triplets " and a 
small geyser throwing out water all the time, called 
the "Fountain." Each one of them has its crater of 
more or less curious shape, with the many-colored 
.strata in their sides, and sinuses filled with the de- 
scending hot water. 

Mud Geyser. 

About twenty yards to the right of the road, on the 
summit of the basin, is a mud geyser which once 
in every twenty minutes hurls a column of thick 
mud (like paint) to the height of ten feet, and some- 
times throws it higher. The eruption lasts about ten 
minutes, and as the mud falls back into the crater it 
assumes very curious shapes. After the eruption the 
water recedes into the crater and exposes fine exam- 
ples of the formation. 

Emerald Pool and Geyser. 
About ten yards back, on the other side of the road, 
is a curious pool which is of a most brilliant emerald- 
green color. The water is clear as crystal, while down 
to an almost unfathomable depth the walls are scal- 
loped and beaded, as is so frequently seen throughout 
the Park. It would seem that these deep pools would 
fail, from their frequency, to elicit attention, but such 
is not the case: each is so different from any that pre- 
ceded it that the tourist is given a fresh interest. This 
pool is doubtless the crater of a geyser, though an 
eruption has never been witnessed. 

Minute-Man Geyser. 
Following the road over the summit of the basin to 
the left, at the foot of a small bluff stands the Minute- 
Man, with a small round crater on a very flatly-con- 
ical mound. A column of steam constantly arises, 
and once in each minute, day and night, with a dura- 
tion of about ten seconds, this little geyser sputters out 



60 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARR. 

hot water to the height of twenty-five or thirty feet, 
the column being about four inches in diameter. It is 
curious to contemplate the regularity of the action of 
this and some other geysers. While I write these 
words, and while the reader is perusing them, this 
curious fountain is playing, as it has been doing, and 
as it will continue to do, we know not how long. 

Monarch (or Mammoth) Geyser. 

"Near the Minute-Man Geyser, on the side-hill, stands 
the Monarch, a geyser that throws columns of water 
one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five feet high 
once a day for from twenty to thirty minutes, and 
usually discharges at or near half-past six in the 
morning. It sends out its columns through three ori- 
fices — one of which is two feet by twelve feet, another 
three by eleven, while the third is five by six — at the 
same moment, and the combined flow is very large. 

New Crater Geyser. 
Not far removed is a new crater geyser, which is 
peculiar in having two kinds of eruptious, one every 
half hour, when the water is thrown fifty feet high, 
and another once a day, at which time the water is 
hurled up one hundred feet into the air. 

Vixen Geyser. 

The Vixen Geyser every two or three hours sends 
out a column of water forty to sixty feet high ; and 
there are many other smaller geysers that w T e have 
not room to describe. 

There is one peculiarity about the geysers of this 
basin that elicits attention ; which is, that a great 
many of them have their craters on the sides of a 
bluff* or near the base, which is not the case generally 
in the other basins, and it would seem that the crater 
has been formed by the bursting through of the sub- 
terranean water, which has washed away the superim- 
posed debris and drift. 




gibbon's falls. 



62 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

Gibbon Meadow. 

About six miles farther the country opens into a 
fine grassy meadow of about five miles in area, through 
which flows, in a westward course, on to the Gibbon 
River, Geyser Creek. On all sides of the valley are 
fine wooded hills and high timber. The most favor- 
able hunting-ground for the elk and deer is to the north- 
west of this basin and in the pasture lying in the 
basin itself. 

At the point where the basin narrows just before en- 
tering the Gibbon Canou is the place where many par- 
ties camp for the night (particularly is this true if they 
have come by wagons), for there is fine grass and water 
at this point, and there is not another eligible camping- 
place until we reach the Lower Geyser Basin, seven- 
teen miles farther on ; but if this point is made about 
noon, there is no occasion to halt. 

Paint-Pots and Blood Geyser. 

At the south end of the meadow, at a point where 
a pen of logs has been made to catch animals, will be 
found a blazed trail near the bank of the Geyser 
Creek ; following this about half a mile, we come to 
the Blood Geyser and Paint-Pots. The geyser throws 
a column of water through a stratum of red mud, which 
stains the water of the creek flowing from it and gives 
rise to the name " Blood Geyser." The action of the 
geyser is irregular, it playing twice or thrice a day. 

Near the geyser are the Paint-Pots, a collection of 
extinct mud geysers, in which the semi-fluid clay is 
constantly bubbling and boiling. In this group the 
colors are more brilliant than those of some other 
localities. 

Monument Geyser and Mount Schurz. 
Returning to the road and travelling through the 
canon for about a mile, we come to a foot-bridge and 
trail, with signboard: "To Mount Schurz and Monu- 
ment Geyser," AU along the banks of the river, here 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 63 

and below, the tourist will find hot springs boiling forth 
at the water's edge and making hot streams of water 
in the river, which should be avoided in fording, for 
the comfort of the horses; this may be done by 
going above the cluster of springs found at the foot- 
bridge. On the west bank of the river the trail 
leads along the side of Mount Schurz; on the north- 
east side, to the Geyser Basin, which is a thousand 
feet higher than the river, and may easily be 
reached with a horse. The name of the basin has 
arisen from the collection of masses of geyserite, 
as hard as granite, standing upright, of a variable 
height — some six feet, others twelve. They are 
smooth and white or gray, with no definite order of 
position. They are all open at the top, and most 
of them emit columns of steam, though some are ex- 
tinct ; none of them eject water, it is believed. They 
are geyser-cones, and afford evidence of the truth of 
the assertion that the character of this region is chang- 
ing, for they were once active and are now extinct. 

Hot-Air Fissure. 

A very peculiar feature of this basin is a steam-vent 
or hot-air fissure, an orifice in the rocks from which is 
emitted a stream of air or steam so dry that it can 
scarcely be seen or detected except by the constant 
noise, as from the safety-valve of a locomotive; and so 
loud is the roar that it is impossible to maintain con- 
versation in this region. It is peculiar, besides the 
great noise, in being almost invisible and intensely 
hot. In the basin are some minor boiling springs, 
and in the fissures fine specimens of sulphur may be 
found. 

The outlook to the north over the Gibbon Valley 
is not among the least attractive features of this basin. 
The basin itself was but recently discovered, and, 
though the Park is now well known to abound in 
wonders, it is not certain that there is nothing more 
to be revealed ( or discovered. 



64 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

Gibbon Canon. 

Returning to the river, we enter the Gibbon Canon. 
Here the walls of basaltic rocks close in on the stream 
and form scenery which is most pleasant and pic- 
turesque. On either bank of the river may be seen 
the hot springs, pouring a stream of hot sulphur-water 
into the current, forming for themselves their small 
craters or pools with a wall of geyserite. In the river, 
where the bed is shallow and the grass plentiful, the 
water-ousel may be found in search of its prey, and 
it in its turn makes a very delicious stew or broil. 

Above the stream, towering at times to the height 
of two thousand feet, stand the walls of basalt, carved 
and cut by the erosions of currents long since un- 
known, yet leaving their impress in the rocks. Here 
and there, as they could find standing-room, the gi- 
gantic trees have crowded themselves on the sides of 
the canon, and add much to the beauty of the scene, 
as the rocks of the stream are of a light yellow, the 
hot springs of white geyserite, while the sides of the 
canon are sombre with basaltic rocks and dark-green 
foliage, above all being the bright sun in the clear 
azure sky. 

Gibbon Falls. 
Riding through the stately pines for about six miles, 
the signboard on the tree to the right of the road an- 
nounces " Gibbon Falls ; " and, dismounting, you fol- 
low a very steep trail down the sides of the canon for 
some little distance, and by " holding on by the eye- 
brows" you get a view of the falls, which are not un- 
interesting and rather peculiar. The fall is eighty 
feet in height, but from the point of observation it 
does not seem to be over thirty; still, from below, it 
has a much better appearance. The water does not 
plunge over the cliff and fall headlong into the abyss 
below, as we might expect, but clings to the wall and 
falls over it in a cascade, wearing away the rock ill 
many a curious and fantastic fashion, 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 65 

After passing the falls we jog along for nearly 
eleven miles farther, through a country that has lit- 
tle of special interest, till we reach the Madison River, 
when the landscape opens out in a fine broad valley 
with a river meandering through it, glimmering in the 
setting sun and confined within banks studded with 
trees and grassy meadow, varied at times with dead 
pine forests, the work of the careless tourist in neg- 
lecting his camp-fire. At the forks of the river we 
camped on the edge of the little timber that skirts the 



CHAPTER IX. 

Lower Geyser Basin. 

The territory covered by this basin is the largest in 
the National Park, and, for convenience of describing, 
it has been divided into several divisions, or groups of 
springs and geysers. 

The basin itself is very broad and generally level, 
with fine meadow- and grass-land edged with timber ; 
its greatest length is from east to west, and within its 
limits the two forks of the Madison, or Firehole, 
River unite, near the camping-ground. The southern 
branch of the river is called Firehole, while the east- 
ern branch is known as the east fork of the Madison. 
This will serve to remove the confusion as to which is 
the Firehole River and which the Madison. 

Fiest Group. 

About two miles to the eastward of the confluence 
of the rivers is a group of springs which we may des- 
ignate as the First group. 

This collection of springs stretches for nearly two 
miles along the side of the river, and within this distance 
some sixty-six springs have been counted, with temper- 
atures ranging from 106° to 198° F. In many places 
there are small geysers, playing to the height of from 
two to five feet, and sending up their small jets of 
steam many feet higher. Quite a number are ordi- 
narily quiescent and only boil and seethe, now and 
then boiling vigorously and overflowing the basins 
containing them, then dying down again for a season, 
66 



yellowstone national park. 67 

Prismatic Spring. 
One of these springs has a basin consisting of a se- 
ries of concentric layers of the white geyser ite, each 
containing ridges, along each of which is a line of colors 
of the spectrum, most gorgeous in its effect: hence 
this is called the Prismatic Spring. In many places 
the geyserite formation is of a red or brown color, 
from the admixture of iron with the silica deposited 
from the springs. 

Second Group. 
This group is near the middle of the basin and 
south-east of the forks of the river, which we will take 
as our centre of location. These are principally gey- 
sers, occupying an area of not quite one mile square. 
The group contains about eighteen springs, all hot, 
with varying temperatures, as was the case with the 
last group. The small streams from each converge 
to form a creek of considerable size, flowing into a 
small pond and thence into the Firehole Kiver, which 
is fed principally by the geysers and springs along its 
course in this chain of Lower, Middle and Upper 
Geyser Basins. 

Thud, or Fountain, Geyser. 
Toward the northern extremity of this group is a 
peculiar geyser known as the Thud, or Fountain, Gey- 
ser, which is situated on the side of the gently-sloping 
hill, facing the north-west. The crater is double, con- 
sisting of an outer rim or basin one hundred and fifty 
feet in diameter, with an inner one of twenty-five feet. 
The rim of the inner crater is about five feet wide and 
as many high, and from it a vast column of water is 
thrown to the height of sixty feet, accompanied by a 
heavy thud-like noise underground, followed by a higher 
projection of water. The main column fills the mouth 
of the crater. The exact duration of the eruption of 
this geyser and the frequency of the eruptions are not 



68 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

definitely settled. By some authorities, as Norris, it 
is stated to last from ten to fifteen minutes and to 
occur every afternoon. (This was in 1881, as per Re- 
port of Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park 
for 1881, p. 57.) Wylie gives it as acting about every 
six hours, the discharge lasting more than an hour. 

When the eruption has subsided, the tourist may ap- 
proach to the very edge of the crater, and, standing on 
the rim, gaze down into a chimney of most exquisite 
beauty, with walls of rich coloring and a bed of water 
at the bottom of the purest blue, boiling and bubbling 
most actively. It is a very strange and interesting 
sight — one which will never be forgotten. 

In the walls of this crater are numerous pockets, 
or sinuses, filled with water and containing rounded 
masses of geyserite, from the size of a pea to that of a 
walnut, of a cauliflower appearance, similar to those 
found at the Mammoth Hot Springs. 

The water of this geyser seems to possess a peculiar 
property of depositing geyserite in the tissue and fibre 
of weeds and other vegetable substances, and fine speci- 
mens of these pseudomorphs may be found in the 
neighborhood, petrified more or less completely, some 
of a rosy tint, others white or buff. 

Mud Geysers, or Paint-Pots. 

South and a little east of the Thud Geyser is a col- 
lection of mud geysers, or springs, three in number, 
with contents of red, white and pink mud in a violent 
state of agitation. In general appearance these mud 
geysers resemble a large mortar-bed in which the lime 
is slaking and throwing up its spurts of semi-fluid mor- 
tar. 

But there are many peculiarities about these Paint- 
Pots. All round the edge is a ridge of more or less 
solid clay, upon which it is safe to walk, while back 
from this for many yards the clay has dried and 
left irregular cracks and fissures, with here and there 
deep pits of several inches' diameter, at the bottom of 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 69 

which is a mass of more fluid clay, not boiling, but 
just in a semi-solid condition. In many places a jet 
of hot steam issues from these pits. In the main beds 
— or craters, more properly speaking — we find a very 
peculiar condition of things. In one the contents are 
very soft and fluid, boiling with great activity and 
sending the spurts of mud upward in rapid succession, 
like, as has been aptly said, a caldron of thin mush. 
This mud is of a white color and very fine to the 
feel, but extremely hot — about 176° F. in temper- 
ature. The mud of a neighboring bed is pink in color 
and confined in a circular basin, as was the first, with 
a wall of quiescent clay between them. The consistency 
of the clay in this basin is denser than that in the for- 
mer and bubbling less actively, while in a third basin 
the clay is of a deep-red color and of about the consist- 
ency of very soft putty; and this last basin is perhaps 
the most interesting of them all. As the hot steam or 
air arises through the mass it heaps up small mounds or 
bubbles of mud, which presently burst with a thud, while 
the throat of the vent-tube contracts and the edges of 
the bubbles are folded back with a graceful curve like 
the petals of a lily. Into the air is hurled a small 
conical piece of mud, which generally falls again into 
the centre of the expanded lily, forming the pistil. 
Owing to the tenacious character of the mud, this 
form is retained for some time, giving a very peculiar 
appearance to the surface of the crater. In many cases 
the bubbles or mounds simply burst with a puff", and a 
jet of steam shoots out into the air, when the walls 
fold in again and the surface becomes smooth but for 
the series of concentric ridges or rings marking the spot. 
The mud or clay in these Paint-Pots is worked up 
to an impalpable condition, without the least gritty 
matter to be felt in it, and the color in the individual 
basins is entirely homogeneous. It is impossible to ac- 
count for these singular beds, lying as they do so near 
each other that they may be considered as one, yet 
with contents in such various conditions, and having 



70 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

such diversities of consistence — from that of very soft 
white lead to that of hard putty — and colors varying 
from pure white to deep red. 

It is said that these springs are not so violent as 
they were some years since, but they are still very 
active and extremely interesting. 

Chalybeate Springs. 

Lower down on the hillside are found, in a boiling 
coudition, some chalybeate springs, the water and the 
deposit from which are bright red in color, presenting 
a very strong contrast to the white of the siliceous 
geyserites. 

Fissure Spring. 

Still farther to the south-east, at the head of a small 
stream, near a little lake, is the Fissure Spring, so 
named on account of its shape. It has a temperature 
of 196° F., and near this spring are some small gey- 
sers, one throwing the water to the height of from 
twenty to twenty-five feet. 

Fourth Group. 

In the south-eastern corner of the basin is the 
Fourth group of springs, extending for nearly a mile 
and a half along both sides of the ravine in which it 
is found. It is south of the Fissure Spring. 

In this group there are upward of fifty springs, all 
hot, and the group extends high up on the mountains. 
It contains many interesting springs, but only a few 
geysers, and none of the first class ; yet almost all of 
them are very active, throwing columns of water from a 
few inches to many feet in height. In some of them 
a black deposit of fine sand is found, and these emit a 
very disagreeable odor of sulphur. 

White Dome. 

In the lower portion of this group is the curious 
formation known as the White Dome. It stands near 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 71 

a most beautiful spring with a handsomely-scalloped, 
funnel-shaped basin. The hard mound is fifteen feet 
high, of a dome-shape, surmounted by a chimney, or 
flue, nearly twenty feet high ; from the top of this a 
column of steam is constantly issuing. There are 
scores of springs in this group ; but we cannot de- 
scribe each. 

Fifth Group. 
This is located west of the Thud Geyser and Foun- 
tain Geyser, north of the small stream which drains 
them. 

Conch Spring. 
There are upward of five hundred springs along 
both side of the Firehole River, but few deserve a 
passing notice. One of them, the Conch Spring, has 
a peculiar triangular basin, eight and a half feet by 
ten feet, and a temperature of 186° F. 

Horn Geyser. 
Near this spring is a geyser called the Horn Geyser, 
from the horn-like shape of the crater which it has 
built for itself, gradually tapering from a base six feet 
in diameter to a top only about one foot across. It is 
in constant action. 

Bath Spring. 
On the river-bank is a large square basin, of 
unknown depth and nearly twenty-five feet across, 
which, from a fancied resemblance to a bath-tub, is 
called Bath Spring. 

Cavern Spring. 
North and west aloug the north-eastern bank of the 
river is found the Cavern, a basin from twenty to 
thirty feet wide and probably twenty deep, filled with 
perfectly clear blue water, through which every object 
may be seen to the very bottom. The sides are splen- 
didly studded with rosettes of geyserite of an endless 
variety of shapes and sizes. 



72 yellowstone national park. 

Mud Springs. 
North of the Cavern Spring, on the summit of a 
small hill among the timber, is a collection of mud 
springs of a variable size and having contents of varied 
consistency, from thin clay to a thick mortar, and giv- 
ing out a succession of strange noises as the hot steam 
forces its way through the writhing mud. Some of the 
springs are a few inches in diameter; others, many 
feet; all are in a constant state of agitation. They 
are almost all situated at the bottom of a funnel- 
shaped crater, sometimes as much as twenty-five feet 
in diameter and more or less deep. The mud is in 
some cases white, in others gray and stiff; so that the 
escaping steam throws out the mud to a considerable 
distance. The sides of the crater are studded with coni- 
cal pieces that have thus been hurled out by the steam, 
hardening where they fell. 

Vent-Holes. 
Somewhat back from the river, high up on the bank, 
are a series of vent-holes from which steam is con- 
stantly escaping with a simmering noise. These tubes 
or cones are almost invariably lined with crystals of 
sublimed sulphur, which has in some instances closed 
up the Vent altogether by its deposit. 

Periodical Lake. 

On the west bank of the river , and near a small 
stream coming in from the west near the base of the 
mountain, is a large spring or lake. It sends out large 
columns of steam and has a most curious bed, which 
at times is entirely exposed by the receding of the 
waters. This spring is one in which the volume of 
water swells and recedes at times, leaving the bed dry 
or covering it to the depth of many feet. 

This alternate filling and emptying of the basin has 
produced, by crystallization of the silica, a most gor- 
geous effect of frost-work and delicate tracery. The 
margins project far out into the centre of the basin, 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 73 

and are supported by the most beautiful snow-white 
brackets of frost-work, from the lower edges of which 
hang long tapering stalactites of geyserite, assuming 
a great variety of fantastic shapes. 

Near the centre of the basin is a rounded hour-glass- 
like structure composed of geyserite and rising up to 
a level with the margins of the basin. The centre is 
somewhat depressed and has concentric layers of a sili- 
ceous deposit, each a little more elevated than its neigh- 
bor, all together forming an inverted cone inside of the 
external basin. The base of this structure is conical 
aud studded with excrescences of a pearly lustre and 
variously tinted. In another place, projecting out into 
the basin, there is a point of geyserite with a most irreg- 
ular outline, and there are deep cavernous sinuses in the 
sides, and in some places natural bridges joining one side 
of the walls with another, showing that as the deposit 
of the geyserite progressed the two then isolated nuclei 
of crystallization approached each other, until at last 
a coalescence is the result. Continued deposit has 
formed this peculiar structure, and its appearance is 
certainly marvellous. Some aspects of it are smooth, 
very hard and of a pearly lustre, while others have a 
structure resembling that of delicate moss and so 
fragile that it would seem that a strong wind might 
demolish the whole mass. 

In still another part of the basin the deposit is lam- 
inated, and the leaves are arranged in an angular 
manner, each resting with its upper margin on its fellow. 
The whole structure looks as if a mighty current had 
swept a vast number of plates of this material through 
the narrow gorge, and, the force spending itself, they 
have sunk down and remained fixed at the bottom. 
A whole volume might be written describing this won- 
derful place, but we desist. 

Sixth Group. ....... ■_..? 

Almost directly south from the camping-place, and 
south-west about two miles from the Fifth group, is 



74 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

the Sixth group — a collection of springs situated on 
the open prairie and surrounded by much marsh, so 
that it is not easy to approach them. 

Fairy Falls. 

Following up the small stream which they feed at 
the head of the ravine, we find the Fairy Falls of the 
Lower Geyser Basin, This is a beautiful cascade, the 
column of water falling in a steady stream and dash- 
ing itself into spray against the rocky wall over which 
it glides. 

Seventh Group. 

About three and a half miles directly south of the 
forks of the Firehole River is the Seventh group. On 
either side of the river and scattered along the sides 
of the canon — principally on the west bank — are the 
springs. 

The Caldron. 

One of them has a very large crater, and the sur- 
face of the boiling water is more than twenty feet 
below the ground upon which you stand. So much 
steam is constantly arising from it that it is difficult to 
get a glimpse of the surface at all, but when seen it is 
found to be of a most beautiful blue. The side of the 
spring toward the river is notched, and through these 
depressions the boiling water pours into the river 
in small streams having beds lined with the sesqui- 
oxide of iron, giving them a very strange appear- 
ance. In this group are many more springs — probably 
something over a score ; but we will not burden the 
reader with a description of them. 

Twin Btjttes. 
To get a view of the Lower Geyser Basin, cross the 
river to the west side, going south-west past the beau- 
tiful little lakes clustered together on the high pla- 
teaux above the river. These lakes are of consid- 
erable depth and present a most beautiful appearance, 
the margins being thickly wooded with tall, tapering 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 75 

pines and spruces, while on their surface the broad 
leaves of the water-lily float backward and forward 
with the varying breezes. 

The little streams which drain these lakes are of 
themselves interesting, and tumble their waters down 
over the sides of the rocks in very picturesque forms. 
One of them falls by a clear descent two hundred and 
fifty feet, breaking into spray long before it reaches 
the bottom ; this has also been called " Fairy Falls." 
It is visible at only one point, as it falls into a deep 
basin surrounded by tall trees, which shut it out from 
view. 

But to return. 

Climbing up the most northern butte — which is six 
hundred and thirty feet above the Firehole River and 
seven thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven feet 
above tide — we get a view of the Lower Geyser Basin 
of the Firehole River, the largest of the geyser basins 
in the Park, so far as known at this date ; it has an area 
of about twenty-five square miles. But not all of 
this vast basin contains active springs ; some are ex- 
tinct, dying or so small as not to be worthy of notice 
in a region where hot springs are so numerous. 

The view from the summit of the buttes is very fine, 
extending for many miles over a plain of white or 
light-colored geyserite, with here and there large areas 
where the rich deep-green foliage of the evergreen trees 
is contrasted with the lighter-colored grass, and with 
patches of yellow or gray earth and the white of the 
geyserite. At hundreds of places all over this vast 
area arise columns of steam, of greater or less size, 
issuing from the numerous geysers and hot springs scat- 
tered over the landscape. From their varied character- 
istics, the springs of this basin may easily be divided 
into three divisions. For instance, some of the springs 
are continually boiling and seething, never quiet. Then 
there are others that boil only at intervals, remaining 
quiescent most of the time, then suddenly boiling up 
vigorously and dying down again to their former con- 



(6 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

dition ; while a third class remain placid and quiet 
till the time for an eruption, then burst out into a 
fountain of hot water, a geyser, playing to a greater or 
less height for some time, then dying down. As a 
rule, the water in the geyser crater recedes with the 
cessation of the eruption, and the basin fills again be- 
fore the next spout. 

Road to Henry's Lake and Virginia City. 

About two miles before reaching the forks of the 
Firehole River a road is passed running to the north- 
westward. This is the road to Henry's Lake and Vir- 
ginia City, following along the course of the Madison 
River. Here a number of roads unite, forming a 
point of divergence to many interesting places in the 
Park. 

Riverside Mail-Station. 

The roads to the westward here separate, one taking 
a direction north-west, over the Madison plateau, pass- 
ing the Lookout Cliffs on the north, and again unites 
with the other branch on the border of the Madison 
River, at the Riverside mail-station, which is a point 
where the tourist from Virginia City will halt for the 
night. The other road runs north over a part of the 
way travelled from the Gibbon Basin, or Norris Basin, 
then turns to the westward and northward, passes to 
the north of Madison River and Lookout Cliffs 
through the third canon of the Madison, and joins the 
southern route at the Riverside station. 

Going to the eastward from this point is the road to 
the falls of the Yellowstone River and Grand Canon. 
This road passes a few small hot-springs deposits and 
Mary's Lake, which has an elvation of eight thousand 
three hundred and thirty feet above the sea. The 
road takes its course along the east fork of the Fire- 
hole Creek, crossing a broad meadow, till nearing 
Mary's Lake, when the valley narrows. About half 
a mile before reaching the lake the valley is contracted 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 77 

by two hills that mark the summit of the divide. 
East of this divide is found a hot-springs formation, 
and about three miles farther on a branch of the 
Alum Creek is crossed; then the valley spreads out 
into a broad prairie covered with fine grass. 

The road to the south leads to the Midway Geyser 
Basin. 

Firehole Hotel and Post-Office. 

On the west bank of the Firehole River, near the 
intersection of the roads, is a hotel and post-office, 
where the tourist may send letters or receive the same, 
though it is a little inconvenient to get letters there 
because of the very circuitous route they must take to 
reach this point ; but they may be mailed to the 
" States " at this place, and in due time they will be 
received by absent friends. 



CHAPTER X. 
Midway, or Middle, Geyser Basin. 

About five miles from the camping-place in the 
Lower Basin, following the road along the river, across 
the Gibbon Meadow, and then entering the timber for 
a short distance, we come out again upon the east bank 
of the Firehole River, below the Excelsior Geyser. 
This spring possesses some features of remarkable inter- 
est. It lies east-by-south of the Twin Buttes and east 
of the Fairy Falls mentioned in the last chapter. The 
road through the basin divides just as it reaches the 
river, and one arm follows the west bank, the other 
the east, but both again unite about a mile and a half 
up the stream. 

Excelsior Geyser, or Sheridan Geyser. 

Crossing the river at the first ford — which may be 
done with ease if the place is reached not too soon 
after one of those powerful eruptions of this famous 
geyser — climbing up the steep bank of geyserites that 
has been formed on the west side of the river, and 
turning then to the south, you come to the crater of 
the Excelsior Geyser. It is well that the tourist ride 
with care near the edge of this crater. He may ride 
quite to the margin, for it is cut out of the side of the 
bank, near the river, but it is not safe to venture too 
near with a horse. Those who are timid may tie 
their horses to the trees on the east bank of the river, 
and, crossing the rude log foot-bridge, they may finish 
their visit on foot. 

Approaching the mouth of the huge crater of 
the geyser, you find yourself on the brim of a deep 
78 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 79 

boiling caldron, or basin, of steaming water, of a pale- 
blue color and exquisite clearness. The mouth of this 
crater has grown since its first eruption, which is 
thought to have occurred not many years ago. The 
first outbreak undoubtedly took place near the river. 
The geyser, by the violence of its action, has under- 
mined and thrown out the rocks forming its sides till 
a crater at least two hundred and fifty feet wide has 
been formed, with walls twenty to thirty feet high, and 
decreasing in height as we approach the river. The 
laminated structure of the walls of geyserite through 
which it has forced its way clearly proves its recent 
origin. The water is always in a state of great agita- 
tion and boiling vigorously, and as one stands on the 
margin and looks down into the seething pit a feeling 
of terror pervades the mind. The ground trembles and 
shakes beneath the feet, and there is an involuntary 
movement backward from the brink, lest the earth 
should crumble away and precipitate the visitor into 
the boiling caldron below. It is at the same time both 
a most interesting and a horrible place. Almost all the 
time some of the hot contents of the caldron pass over 
the margin of the basin ; but at the period of eruption 
the volume of boiling water which overflows is truly 
immense, and it at times is equal to the entire volume 
of the river itself. 

A peculiarity of the side of the crater over which 
the current of hot water flows is that the layers of gey- 
serite that have been deposited are of a great variety of 
colors and tints, from red and yellow to buff and pink, 
spread over a groundwork of almost spotless white. 
Many of the small channels have their beds lined with 
a delicate filamentous substance, of a yellow color, that 
moves with the motion of the current and sways from 
side to side in the stream. It is composed principally 
of sulphur, and is of the consistency of tough glue or 
jelly, breaking in the hands when an attempt is made 
to remove it in places where the temperature is not 
too high to admit of such an attempt.. 



30 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

The action of the Excelsior Geyser is very peculiar 
and irregular, aud about it there are some features 
which are very puzzling. Colonel Norris, then the 
efficient and observant superintendent of the Park, in 
1881 sent a detachment of men to note the action of 
the geyser, and from his report may be gleaned many 
interesting facts. The period of observation extended 
from September 27th to October 7th, and it was found 
that eruptions of the geyser occurred at almost any 
and every hour of the day or night, without the 
least regularity as to the height of the column or the 
period of duration. A fine display, lasting not longer 
than fifteen minutes, might be expected about ten 
o'clock in the morning and not later than half-past 
five in the evening, at which times the column of hot 
water might reach as high as three hundred feet — gen- 
erally from two hundred to two hundred and fifty 
feet at such times, and at other times playing to a va- 
riable height, not, however, less than fifty feet. In 
frequency of eruptions it was observed that on some 
days in twenty-four hours there would be six, five, 
four, eight, ten, and even eleven, ejections of the aque- 
ous contents ; so that no definite table can be compiled 
of the eruptions. Yet the tourist who will tie his 
horse and patiently wait will most likely be gratified 
with a fine display within a few hours. 

In their effects the eruptions of this geyser are per- 
haps the most disastrous of any in the Park, since the 
force is tremendous, and the rocky walls of the geyser- 
tube, being of a less compact nature than the material 
found in most other geysers, is frequently in the vio- 
lence of the action broken and detached in large 
masses, which are hurled hundreds of feet in the air 
and landed sometimes in the bed of the river or on 
the opposite bank, at other times falling back into the 
crater, to be again shot up. Masses of rock thus ejected 
are found more than two hundred yards away from the 
crater. The Firehole River at this point is more than 
a hundred yards wide and from eighteen inches to two 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 81 

feet deep ; but after most of the eruptions from this 
geyser its volume is doubled, aud so deep and hot that 
for a long distance down the stream fording is not 
practicable. It even becomes dangerous to cross at 
some distance up stream, from the damming up of 
the descending current. 

A very fine display of this geyser was witnessed by 
Rev. Dr. J. H. Eccleston and the author on the 23d 
of August, 1882. Being in advance of the pack- 
train, we crossed the river to the west side and looked 
into the turbulent crater, wondering at its agitation. 
Seeing that the road was rather obscure on that side 
of the river, we again forded the stream to the east 
bank, and in the shade of some pine trees hitched our 
horses and awaited the pack, which presently came in 
sight on the opposite bank and went on up stream on 
that side, and soon vanished among the trees. Turn- 
ing toward the ford again to follow, we were admon- 
ished by a dull rumbling sound like a peal of distant 
thunder to pause. At that moment some small puffs 
of steam arose from the mouth of the crater, and sud- 
denly, with a noise like the discharge of a tremendous 
submarine blast, a column of water shot hundreds of 
feet up into the air. In a few seconds it was followed 
by the rattle of descending stones and masses of rock ; 
while at the same time a huge cataract of boiling 
water poured over the side of the crater into the river. 
The display did not last very long — only a few min- 
utes — but it was magnificent and worth spending a 
whole day to witness. 

About a year before this, on the 28th of August, 
1881, General Sheridan witnessed a similar grand 
eruption of the geyser. In that instance the column 
of water in a solid body was from sixty to seventy- 
five feet in diameter and shot up to the enormous 
height of three hundred feet, the steam arising over a 
thousand feet into the clear azure of the cloudless sky. 

Professor F. V. Hay den in his report for 1871 
speaks of this as a spring, saying: "The most for- 



82 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

midable spring of all is near the margin of the river. 
It seems to have broken out close by the river, and to 
have continually enlarged its orifice by the breaking 
down of its sides." From what follows there seems 
to be no evidence that he saw an eruption, as no men- 
tion is made of one, and, had it taken place, he cer- 
tainly would have witnessed it and stated the fact. It 
is commonly believed and reported that this geyser 
first broke out in 1878. 

Hell's Half-Acre, or Devil's Half-Acre. 

The summit of this geyser-crater is about fifty feet 
above the level of the river ; it is composed of geyser- 
ite piled up to that height by the accumulations, it 
would seem, from the spring to the west of it, eupho- 
niously named " Hell's Half-acre " or " Devil's Half- 
acre," which is a few yards west of the Excelsior Gey- 
ser. Here is one of the most remarkable springs of 
boiling water in the Park, not only from its size, which 
has given rise to the name " Half-acre," but also from 
the rare beauty which it possesses. Upon the summit 
of a very gently-rising terrace or series of terraces of 
geyserite is the crater of a spring more than one hun- 
dred and fifty feet in diameter, boiling up in the centre 
to the height of several inches and flowing so regularly 
over the edges that there is no raised rim, but the min- 
eral constituents of the water are deposited in a series 
of miniature terraces all around the top and down the 
sides. On these terraces are shallow pools containing 
water, the sides and bottom of which are variously 
colored — red, orange, green, yellow, brown and white, 
according as the iron or the vegetable matter in the 
water preponderates ; and the effect is truly singular. 

The volume of the water in the spring is of an in- 
tensely deep-blue color and so deep that the bottom can- 
not be seen (though the water is perfectly clear and 
objects on the beautifully-scalloped walls are visible to 
a great depth), tinted with blue of a deeper and deeper 
color as the glance is cast farther and farther down into 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



83 



the depths. A column of steam constantly arises from 
the surface of the boiling lake, and at times, when the 
sun is at a proper slant, the play of color on the sur- 
face of the water is most gorgeous ; the effect is pris- 
matic over the entire surface. 

Riverside Hot Springs. 

Following the river on the west bank, a number of 
small spouting hot springs are passed, some of which, 
right at the water's edge, have built up for themselves 
conical craters to the height of a foot or more, form- 
ing the Riverside Hot Springs. 




CHAPTER XI. 

Upper Geyser Basin. 

Continuing the course southward along the river 
for about five miles through the tali evergreen timber, 
and making a ford back to the west bank of the Fire- 
hole River above the place of junction with the Lit- 
tle Firehole Creek, we come at once upon the geysers 
of the Upper Geyser Basin, the most wonderful spot in 
the whole region, and one that fills the tourist with 
surprise from the moment he enters its precincts. The 
impression made on the mind will be retained long after 
he has left the Park and is travelling homeward. His 
thoughts will revert to the Giantess, Old Faithful, the 
Castle or some other of the wonderful geysers, and he 
will ponder on the mighty forces that are at work be- 
neath that siliceous crust throwing up these tremendous 
columns of boiling water. 

From the north this basin presents a peculiar ap- 
pearance. On either side of the river stand geyser- 
craters, and the banks of the river itself are composed 
of geyserite piled higher and higher, layer upon layer, 
until it has built up a wall ten, twenty, or even thirty, 
feet in height, over which, in descending to the river, 
the hot water flows in a succession of beautiful cat- 
aracts. In many places the river-bank is crowned by 
a hot spring just at the edge of the water, with its 
crater on the summit of a small cone and its stream of 
boiling liquid flowing over the sides, streaking them 
with various tints of red, yellow and green. 

The basin is situated in a broad valley surrounded 
by low hills and hedged in by a fine growth of ever- 
green timber ; here and there patches of grass of a 
84 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



85 



bright-green color relieve the dull monotony of the 
white calcareous and siliceous deposit of which the ba- 
sin is composed. With the columns of steam arising 
at different points in the landscape and an occasional 




OLD FAITHFUL GEYSER. 



jet of water, the picture, as you view it from beneath 
the shade of an overspreading spruce tree, is certainly 
a vivid one. 

Without stopping to examine the many geysers on 
either hand, we push on to the hotel-site or camping- 



86 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PAHK. 

spot, in the centre of the basin, from which may be 
had a view, more or less remote, of all the geysers in 
the region. Having made camp and prepared to stay 
for a time to see the sights and " do " the region, we 
will set about our explorations. 

Old Faithful. 

About the time these preparations are made the re- 
liable old geyser Old Faithful, at the southern end of 
the basin, will be in eruption, and the shout of ap- 
plause from the admiring crowd who stand awestruck 
at the base of the column will be heard. You hurry 
off in that direction to get a closer look at it, but be- 
fore you reach the spot the eruption has died out ; but 
the geyser will spout again in less than an hour. 
During the summer of 1882 it played once every fifty- 
four minutes, with an eruption lasting from four to six 
minutes ; so that there was a display every hour during 
the day and night. The opinion has often been ex- 
pressed that the geysers are rapidly losing their activity. 
But this can hardly be the case with Old Faithful. 
There is little room to doubt that the geyser is of 
great age, for the huge mound of deposit upon 
which it stands must have taken many years to 
form and harden to its present condition. On the side 
away from the river the mound is more flattened and 
less interesting, but on the river side the crater is 
beautifully scalloped and terraced with cauliflower- 
like excrescences protruding all over the surfaces and 
margins of the terraces. At the mouth of the crater 
are large piles of these concreted masses of geyserite, 
with no definite outline and all rounded and smooth, 
with a pearly lustre, resembling drops of porcelain 
cemented together in a single mass. 

While admiring the curious architecture of this gey- 
ser basin, we notice a slight puff of steam emerging from 
the crater and hear a deep rumbling noise like the pro- 
longed roar of an angry lion ; then for an instant it is 
still, but the next moment a column of boiling water 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 87 

is shot up into the air in a majestic stream fully one 
hundred and sixty feet high. This height of the col- 
umn is maintained almost uniformly until near the 
close of the eruption, when it begins to fall, and as 
suddenly as it commenced the flow ceases, and the 
geyser emits nothing but very hot steam which con- 
tinues to issue, in greater or less volume, until the next 
eruption. 

This geyser was in 1870 named " Old Faithful " by 
the early explorers, who found it at that time regular 
at its work, playing every hour, and it has kept up 
the same rate of working ever since ; and what length 
of time it had previously been active no one can 
tell. 

Near the Old Faithful are found hills of geyserite 
filled with old craters ; and it is probable that Old Faith- 
ful may be the lingering descendant of a numerous 
family of geysers in this locality. 

Beehive. 
After crossing the river on the foot-bridge, about a 
thousand yards north-west of Old Faithful, and turning 
to the right there will be found a singular conical pile 
of geyserite three feet high, three and a half feet in 
diameter at the summit and about four feet at the 
base. This is the cone of the Beehive Geyser, and 
its shape has given origin to the name. The crater is 
twenty-four by thirty-six and a half inches, of an oval 
shape. It stands on a gently-sloping plain of smooth 
deposit, with no other mound leading up to it. (Most of 
the other conical craters have built up a small hill at 
their bases.) Suddenly you come upon the cone, look- 
ing like a huge nest of the flamingo, and one might be 
tempted to stop and rest upon it were it not for the 
ever-rising steam and hot air. About ten feet north 
of the cone is a little steam-vent, as it is called, which 
for fifteen or twenty minutes before an eruption gives 
warning by its vigorous action of the discharge which 
is to come : when this precursory action ceases, the 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 




BEEHIVE GEYSER. 



grand spouting of the geyser may be momentarily ex- 
pected. Soon, with a roar of escaping steam, a column 
of water shoots up two hundred and nineteen feet 
toward heaven with perfect symmetry, falling back in 
pearly drops all over the region around in a deluging 
flood, while the steam rises thousands of feet and is 
wafted by the passing breeze in a cloud of vapor. 
During the whole eruption the little vent plays, keep- 
ing it up with tremendous vigor, as if trying to attract 
some attention as well as its more exalted neighbor. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 89 

The display of this geyser while in eruption is one 
of the most graceful and pleasing in the hasin, though 
from the external appearance of its cone while quiet 
nothing of the kind would be expected. The eruption 
generally occurs at least once in twenty-four hours, 
though the geyser has been known to act twice be- 
tween daylight and dark, and on one occasion no dis- 
play followed the spouting of the vent ; but such an 
omission of its action is rare. 

The time when the geyser may be expected to play 
is, however, very uncertain, as the scale is a shifting 
one. When Professor Hayden witnessed it, in 1871, 
the eruption took place about six in the morning. 
When witnessed by Colonel Norris's men, in 1881, it 
occurred at quarter of ten p. m. one day, quarter 
after two p. m. the next day, and tw T enty minutes of 
nine p. m. on the third day. When witnessed by the 
author, it occurred about three p. M., and it would 
seem, from the data above given, that the eruptions 
may be expected after an interval of twelve hours, in- 
stead of twenty-four, or, as some authorities have put it, 
" once in every two or three days." Yet there is a cer- 
tain regularity about it; and if the time can be ascer- 
tained when the geyser played the day or the week 
before, it is considered best to look for it near that 
hour. 

The cone has been much mutilated by the vandals 
that have from time to time visited the Park, yet the 
geyser is doing good work at reparation, and soon 
the mound will be restored to its original beauty. 

Vandalism. 
A word here about this vandalism. Notwithstand- 
ing the fact that the authorities in charge of the Park 
have made stringent regulations in regard to this mat- 
ter, it should be the duty of each and every tourist to 
have the interest of the public and his fellow-citizens 
so much at heart that these precautions and rules will 
not be necessary. Every intelligent visitor should 



00 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

feel sufficient interest in this museum of nature to 
frown upon the barbarism of persons who come with 
axes and hammers to break up and carry away baskets 
full of the coral-like formation around these craters. 
Such acts of vandalism are perfectly useless, for one 
cannot carry his stolen curiosities out of the Park even 
if the authorities would permit it, since they crumble 
and are broken up into fine powder, whether carried 
by the pack or in the wagon. 

Giantess Geyser. 

About one hundred yards north and a little east of 
the Beehive, on the summit of a large mound of gey- 
serite, some fifty feet in height, of a gray color, there 
is an unfathomable pit of irregular outlines, indented 
and scalloped on its margin with the peculiar pearly 
geyserite already spoken of. The crater is depressed, 
and is lined with a pure white deposit ; and so clear is 
the boiling fluid which fills it and then recedes from 
the mouth that it is easy to discern objects at the depth 
of one hundred feet when there is not too much steam 
arising and the water is not boiling. The color of the 
water is intensely indigo in tint. The size of this 
crater is, by actual measurement, eighteen by twenty- 
five feet. It is depressed, there being no cone or nozzle 
above the general surface of the mound. 

At certain times the crater of this geyser is full of 
water, which runs over the side in a stream ; at others 
the water recedes deep into the recesses of the cavern. 
During the intervals between the eruptions it appears 
like a harmless hot spring, boiling slightly and giving 
off small columns of slowly-rising steam. In fact, it 
looks so tame that the tourist is disappointed and turns 
away in disgust from the "Giantess;" yet, if he has an 
opportunity to witness one of her eruptions — which 
sometimes last for eighteen hours — he will not again 
be likely to gaze with scorn at her. The eruptions 
of the Giantess take place at longer intervals than 
those of any other geyser (so far as is known) in the 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 91 

Park, there being from fourteen to seventeen days be- 
tween them, though we believe the interval is a little 
indefinite, since there is no correct record of this gey- 
ser, the intermissions being long and no one having 
spent the time to make adequate observations. The 
author and his friends had a view of the geyser in 
action on the 26th of August, 1882, it having com- 
menced at half-past three a. m. It was seen till after 
ten a. m., and was then still in eruption. 

Before the eruption comes on, for some thirty-six or 
twenty-four hours the "thing" is getting ready, and a 
low rumbling is heard at the mouth of the crater, ac- 
companied with most violent boiliug in the pool. The 
agitation continues, and the noise becomes louder, be- 
ing accompanied by a continuous rumbling, with a 
trembling sensation in the earth under the feet. As 
the crisis approaches the water sinks in the basin, and 
when stones or other objects are thrown into it, it boils 
furiously, foaming up, and sometimes running over the 
edge. The action now becomes very violent, and 
small jets of water are occasionally hurled out from 
the foaming and surging caldron. Suddenly, with 
great violence, the water rises in the basin, and almost 
before a place of safety can be reached a mighty 
flood of water is hurled out to the height of two 
hundred and fifty feet, stampeding the lookers-on, who 
flee, in every direction. 

In the eruptions of this geyser you behold a truly 
marvellous succession of waterspouts. During the first 
impulse or throe of this terrible fountain a column of 
water, which completely fills the mouth of the crater — 
eighteen feet by twenty-five feet — is lifted in a body sixty 
feet, falling in a tremendous flood, with a deafening, 
thundering noise, upon the earth, while from the centre 
of this column some six or more jets or columns of 
water, each over a foot in diameter, are shot up to 
the height of two hundred and fifty feet. This is a 
most singular feature of the geyser ; and it is prob- 
able that these streams come from distinct and sepa- 



92 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

rate nozzles, opening into the bottom of the main 
crater. The grand eruption lasts twenty minutes, 
and is succeeded by minor ones, which for many hours 
play, with greater or less force, as high as twelve or 
sixteen feet. 

Professor F. V. Hayden reports that in 1871 two of 
these wonderful eruptions occurred in twenty-two 
hours, but they are by no means so frequent at present; 
and if the eruptions have decreased in frequency, from 
two in twenty-four hours in 1871 to one in seventeen 
days, as at present, it may not be many years till the 
eruptions have ceased. And it is possible that the 
Hell's Half-acre of the Lower Geyser Basin is an ex- 
tinct geyser, having spent itself in days gone by. 

There is a singular phenomenon that is worthy of 
note in this connection — namely, that when the Giant- 
ess is in action a wave of activity extends to at least 
nineteen minor geysers and vent-holes in the neighbor- 
hood, setting them all to boiling and steaming. 

After the conflict is over and the eruption ceases the 
Giantess settles down to a more regular course of life, 
and lies placidly in the crater while the internal forces 
are accumulating for another outburst. 

Lion Geyser Group. 
The Giantess Geyser is situated in the midst and on 
the summit of a small hill or plateau of probably five 
hundred yards' radius, with small geysers scattered all 
about it. One of the principal in this group is the 
Lion, which is the highest of four geysers, the other 
three being the Lioness and Two Cubs, or, as they are 
sometimes called, " The Three Jokers." The crater 
of the Lion is on a triangular pile of geyserite, rising 
a few feet above the plain and lying close to the river- 
bank ; the mouth of the crater is on one side of this 
pile. The action of the Lion group of geysers is very 
uncertain, and they are of little note, on account of 
their insignificance, when compared with the mighty 
fountains at work in the vicinity. 



yellowstone national park. 93 

Saw-Mill Geyser, or "The Rustler." — The 
Fountain. 

Following the river down-stream on the north bank 
till we are due west from the Giantess and about two 
thousand yards from it, and nearly opposite the secoud 
foot-bridge or log crossing the river, in the midst of a 
white plain, is the crater of the Saw-Mill Geyser. 
This is a small geyser, compared with the others of 
this basin, and, were it not for certain peculiarities, 
it would be passed by unnoticed by the tourist. 
The crater is only six inches in diameter, and has no 
margin to speak of raised above the level of the sur- 
rounding basin. The basin is bowl-shaped and de- 
pressed several inches, with a diameter of twenty feet. 
The names of this geyser are derived — the first from 
its peculiarities, and the last from the shape of the 
basin. The eruptions are not very grand, but are 
worth seeing. Down through the small orifice can be 
seen the bubbles of steam ; and as they rise to the 
surface they explode with a noise like a puff of steam 
from a steam-pipe, at the same time tossing a column 
of water several feet into the air ; as this descends it 
meets ascending jets of warm water and steam, and is 
thrown still higher, sometimes reaching forty feet or 
more, being in effect very like the action of a battle- 
dore and shuttlecock. The duration of the eruption 
is short, but the geyser is playing about half the time ; 
and at each eruption the basin is filled with water, 
through which the steam forces its way. The proba- 
bility is that the water is held in the basin by a body 
of hot steam rising in the tube beneath, for as soon as 
the eruption is over the water recedes far down into 
the crater and is lost to view. 

The basin at times contains fine specimens of silicified 
wood and pebbles of geyserite. Some " funny " tour- 
ists to the Park have amused themselves by throwing 
tin cans and other odds and ends into the crater of the 
Saw-Mill Geyser, to see them hurled out at the next 



94 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

eruption, and to a great distance ; but all such inter- 
ferences of man and " evidences of civilization " detract 
very much from the pleasure of a visit to the geyser. 
This has also been called the Fountain Geyser, from 
its playing up from the centre of a saucer-like basin. 
Near the Saw-Mill Geyser are a number of tubular 
hot springs which have raised for themselves walls, 
forming basins of rare beauty. Some of them are 
large, others small ; and geologists think they are the 
cones of extinct geysers long since active, and that 
even now these springs are degenerating and the walls 
of their basins going to decay. 

Grand Geyser. 

"The shades of night were falling fast" in other 
lands, but in summer it does not get dark in the Park 
till after nine o'clock. Still, the sun was far aslant when 
a shout from the crowd near the Grand Geyser warned 
us that a display from that quarter was imminent ; so 
we scampered over the rocks and up to a seat on the 
high rocky bench at the foot of which lies the crater 
of the Grand Geyser, and awaited developments. This 
geyser is about five hundred yards north-west of the 
Saw-Mill Geyser, and nearly in the same line from the 
hotel-site, near the Castle. 

This geyser is in eruption once in twenty-three or 
twenty-four hours as we saw it, but the books give its 
interval variously — one putting it at thirteen hours, 
another at from twenty-four to eight hours. Some 
allowance may be admissible for the times of the year 
when the observations were made. We think it safe 
to say that an eruption may be expected once in the 
twenty-four hours, and probably about sunset, as all 
the geysers seem to be more or less restless at that time 
of day. 

The crater in this case is funnel-shaped and very 
beautiful, but not like a geyser in its external appear- 
ances. The orifice of the geyser is about three by four 
feet in breadth and length, though very irregular in 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 95 

outline, and oddly inlaid with rounded masses of geyser- 
formation, smoothed and polished by the boiling cur- 
rents and painted with various hues. Near it is a 
second pool, or spring, smaller in size, but generally 
boiling vigorously. In fact, during the interval of 
repose the geyser itself is very calm, and the water 
is of a fine blue color ; so that the existence of a gey- 
ser would not be suspected. There is no premonitory 
symptom to initiate an eruption, yet its action generally 
lasts upward of twenty minutes ; so that it can be seen 
at some time, even though the tourist may be at a 
remote part of the basin when the action commences. 
The action of the geyser is very powerful as 
well as beautiful, and the tourist is afforded a most 
comfortable place from which to witness it, for just 
back of the geyser is a cliff of rocks upon which a 
position may be selected where the whole display may 
be watched with advantage. Seated upon a rock, you 
may see the water in the crater suddenly recede, and 
the most terrible thundering and thumping noises are 
heard. The earth around trembles and shakes when 
with a terrific explosion a column of water is thrown 
out of the crater to the height of two hundred feet, 
with a diameter of over six feet — the column being 
maintained at this height for many minutes. On a calm 
day the steam rises thousands of feet above the flood 
of water, escaping like the puffs from a steam-pipe, and 
in the slanting rays of an afternoon sun the display of 
this fountain is exceedingly beautiful. When the 
column reaches its extreme height, the water diverges 
and falls back into the basin in glittering showers of 
rain and spray, with a deafening noise, while about the 
crest of the fountain hovers a prismatic bow. The 
column is composed, like that of the Giantess, of a 
number of streams of water aggregated together. The 
central one playing to a greater height than those on 
the periphery, a fine effect is produced — spectral colors 
playing all over the aqueous mass. As suddenly as 
tin 1 action of this geyser commenced, so suddenly does 



96 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

it cease. For a moment all is quiet, save the rush 
of the waters returning into the crater, when the water 
is again hurled in a sparkling fountain into the air 
with the same noise intensified — the column usually 
standing a little higher than before. Thus does the 
geyser play and cease at intervals till at least seven 
eruptions are counted, when all is over and the dis- 
charge subsides, leaving the ground deluged with 
pools of hot water. 

On the 24th of August, 1882, a most splendid dis- 
play of this geyser was witnessed, when eight success- 
ive impulses were counted, the first being much the 
grandest, and the others showing a gradual falling 
off, until the flow ceased altogether and the mighty 
geyser sunk again to repose, to slumber for a time in 
its dark bed many fathoms under ground. 

Wash-Tubs. 
Again crossing the river to the south side, we come 
to a series of small basins, or " wash-tubs," about ten 
feet in diameter, each with a hole probably four inches 
in diameter at the bottom. The edges are rounded 
off, and the walls of the basins are lined with wart- 
like excrescences of geyserite of a buff color. The 
peculiarity about these basins is that at times they 
are filled with water boiling hot, or nearly so, up to 
the very brim and running over ; and so shallow and 
convenient are they that the tourist of cleanly habits 
is tempted to do some laundry-work. Everything 
being handy and no trouble to boil the garments, he 
not unfrequently throws in a bundle of things to be 
washed, and while busy in the suds he may suddenly 
find his batch of clothing receding down the hole in 
the centre of the basin ; and before he can clutch 
them they are gone and the basin is once more dry 
and empty. He waits patiently, and sometimes in 
vain, for the monster which stole his clothes to return 
them. Sometimes the clothes are returned with one 
or two pieces missing, but generally they are all safely 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 97 

restored in due time. We noticed about the edges of 
one of these pools, in the water, a quantity of fibrous 
matter which may have been the torn shreds of gar- 
ments long ago engulfed. 

Devil's Well, or Diana's Sprixl4. 

About three or four rods north of the Castle Geyser, 
which stands on the south of the campiug-point, is the 
Devil's Well ; or let us substitute " Diana's Spring," 
since there is nothing but the heated condition of the 
water to suggest the presence of His Satanic Majesty. 
The well is raised on a very slight mound of earth, with 
a narrow rim of geyserite about six inches high all 
around the edge, with indentations and scallops of a 
very singular shape. At one or more places the edge 
is broken, permitting the water to boil over. The en- 
tire area covered by this spring is probably one hun- 
dred and fifty square feet. 

What this spring is has long been a mystery. It 
is near the side of a powerful geyser — the Castle — but 
during the active and quiescent periods of this geyser 
the Tvell manifests no alteration in its placid condition. 
Occasionally, at long intervals, the action is slightly 
more violent and a little mound of water is heaped up 
in the centre. Generally the bosom of the spring is 
smooth and placid as a mirror, and, standing at the 
side of the crater, the sides of the tube are visible for 
a hundred feet, showing a most beautiful structure, 
composed of folded and rounded masses of geyserite 
projecting from the sides. These masses are of a more 
or less intense blue color, and objects seen through 
the waters in the light of a meridian sun have a 
prismatic play of color about their edges In some 
places, and through certain strata of water, the objects 
viewed beneath are of an exquisite emerald green ; 
and yet this spot, with all its beauty, is called 
"Devil's Well." 

This spring being near the camping-point, it is a fa- 
vorite place for tourists to do their cooking and wash- 



98 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

ing ; and many a pot of beans has been cooked in 
it by immersing the can in the boiling waters. 

The cleansing properties of this spring are wonder- 
ful. The water being strongly alkaline, a few min- 
utes' boiling in it of a well-soaped garment will pro- 
duce a result that is surprising as well as pleasing to 
the laundry-man. The equilibrium between repose 
and the boiling condition is so unstable that the intro- 
duction of a garment, or even the throwing of a stone, 
into the pool will initiate a most vigorous boiling for 
a few seconds, causing the water to overflow the rim ; 
and in many cases the feet are scalded in consequence. 

The Castle Geyser. 

Just south of the Devil's Well, or Diana's Spring, 
is the crater of the Castle Geyser, one of the most con- 
spicuous and greatly admired objects of interest in 
the basin. It stands upon the same raised mound as 
Diana's Spring, and has formed for itself a most elab- 
orate and imposing crater. The side away from the 
river is smooth and polished, having the appearance 
of porcelain, while the opposite side is broken by a se- 
ries of rounded steps falling off* toward the river. 
Each step is pitted with depressions containing water 
and balls of geyserite, of greater or less size and rolling 
backward and forward with the shifting currents as 
they ripple over the glistening walls of the crater. 

The chimney of the crater is ten feet in height, and 
probably twenty feet in diameter at the base, falling 
abruptly on one side and sloping gradually away at 
the other, the entire mass composed of geyserite. At 
the top of the cone is the crater proper, having an in- 
ternal diameter of about four feet, with its margin 
studded with rounded masses of siliceous material sev- 
eral inches in diameter, like huge beads, which are in 
their turn studded all over with the cauliflower-like 
excrescences peculiar to this geyser region, and found 
only near the crater of geysers or springs. The color 
of the larger masses is that of an orange, which fruit 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 99 

they somewhat resemble in appearance. The inter- 
spaces between the masses of geyserite and the margin 
of the crater at a distance present the appearance of 
port-holes, and the resemblance to a ruined castle is 
certainly very close. 

The eruption of this geyser was by no means insig- 
nificant when we witnessed it, though the times of 
its eruption are somewhat uncertain. Intensely hot 
steam is constantly issuing from the mouth, and while 
the wind blows the steam away from the tourist the 
mouth of the crater may be viewed for a long distance 
down, showing a porcelain lining of a fine quality 
and almost spotless whiteness, but as soon as the wind 
changes its quarter the spectator is very apt to fall 
sprawling upon the ground below, so sudden is his 
haste to get away from the scalding current of steam. 
Accompanying these spurts of steam there generally 
comes out a column of water a few feet high, but this 
is no indication of an eruption; nor is the agitation of 
the small vent alongside of this geyser any premonition 
of the intention of the inmates of the Castle to sally 
forth. 

The periods of repose of the Castle are variously 
stated. Some give it as in eruption once in forty-eight 
hours; others, once in twenty-four hours; and it is 
possible that for certain months of the year the inter- 
val is various. When we beheld the geyser, it was on 
the 24th and 25th of August, 1882, and then it had 
an eruption every day, about ten A. M. It is men- 
tioned by Colonel Norris in his report for 1881 that 
the Castle was in eruption on October 4th at three 
p. M., and on the 6th of same month at quarter of ten 
A. M. ; and it may be assumed that at about ten 
o'clock A. m. and from two to three o'clock p. m. are 
the proper times to expect a display of the Cas- 
tle Geyser. Even should the tourist be obliged to 
remain over a day, the spectacle will well repay the 
delay. 

As seen on August 25, 1882, it was grand. About 



100 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

quarter of ten a. m. the column of steam which had 
been rising from the mouth of the crater increased 
greatly in volume, and occasional puffs shot up far 
into the heavens ; but the eruption was not yet. Soon, 
however, the water began to run down the sides of 
the crater as the tube filled from below, and now 
the roaring and rumbling sounds commenced, ac- 
companied by the most violent shaking of the earth, 
whilst at the same time a most splendid column of 
water was ejected to the height of one hundred and 
fifty feet, completely filling the mouth of the 
crater. For real intrinsic beauty we think this 
geyser excels all the others. When seen the heavens 
were cloudless, except from the steam that arose from 
the geyser, and the sky of a rich tint of blue. Stand- 
ing on the south side of the geyser, with the sunlight 
falling full upon the fountain, the effect was gorgeous. 
As the column spent itself a tremendous shower of 
brilliant spangles fell in large drops back over 
the crater, enveloping it as if in a veil of dia- 
monds, while a thin mist of finer particles was wafted 
farther off by the passing breeze, and fell in a spark- 
ling shower at a little distance, there forming a majes- 
tic arch reaching to the earth, while the foot of the 
geyser was encircled by a prismatic halo of great size. 
These sights^ contrasted with the blue of the sky, the 
deep tints of the evergreen foliage and the variegated 
colors of the geyser-cone, produced an effect that was 
certainly fine ; and this one spectacle is worth all the 
fatigue and trouble it may cost to see it. One of our 
party sat watching the magnificent display, and 
would ejaculate, "Isn't that splendid?" while the 
rest had nothing to say, being rapt with awe and 
wonder. The eruption lasted three-quarters of an 
hour, and then gradually subsided, but the geyser 
kept up more or less sputtering for the remainder 
of the day. While the geyser was playing, Old 
Faithful, the Saw-Mill and one or two others went 
off, but they were not noticed by our party, owing 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. J 01 

to the absorbing interest we felt in the beautiful 
eruption of the Castle. 

It is now too near luneh-tirae to endeavor to see any 
more geysers ; so we repair to the Firehole River for a 
bath, and find one of those quiet shady places where the 
pines screen the river, and where the bed of the stream 
is paved with many-colored pebbles and the clear water 
eddies and flows along by banks covered with rich 
grass. Above is a hot spring emptying its contents 
into the stream, so tempering the bath that the swim- 
mer may select what suits him in the way of temper- 
ature, having it all hot or all cold, or, if he choose, 
one side of the body hot to a painful degree, the other 
almost icy cold by contrast. And how refreshing is 
the quiet nap in the shade of the little grove till din- 
ner is ready ! 

Comet Geyser. 

Starting out now and going north-west about two 
thousand feet, near the banks of the river, on the 
south side, we come to the Comet Geyser. Here is 
again one of the funnel-shaped orifices with rounded 
margin and no crater, with its subsidiary pools and hot 
springs. The pool itself is very beautiful, but the 
great size reduces the height of the column, and it is 
not the subject of much notice among so many large 
geysers, especially since its near neighbor, the Giant, 
is south just thirty rods from us. Eruptions occur 
about every six hours. 

Giant Geyser. 

North-west of the camping- or hotel-site at the Cas- 
tle, about half a mile and thirty rods north of the Com- 
et, stands the broken cone of the Giant Geyser. There 
will be no mistaking or missing this geyser, as it stands 
to the left of the road as you enter the basin from the 
north, or on the right as you come from the Castle 
Geyser. We have taken the Castle as the centre, as 



102 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

it is more nearly in the middle of the basin than any 
others and, being conspicuous, is a good landmark. 

The cone or mound of the crater has been de- 
scribed as resembling a broken horn, but the fan- 
cied resemblance to a horn is very vague. It is 
conical in shape, and on the north side a part has 
been broken away or may have failed to form ; at 
all events, it is wanting. Internally, the walls of 
the crater are paved with a tesselated stratum re- 
sembling the old Roman and Pompeian mosaic in 
brilliancy of colors, the white predominating, but 
relieved by crimson, red, yellow, green, gray, etc., 
in an endless variety of tints, while the exterior of 
the cone is chiefly white. Like that of the Castle, 
the inner wall of the crater is perpendicular on one 
face and sloping on the other, but the directions are 
reversed : the Giant has its perpendicular wall on 
the north-east side, while the Castle has its on the 
south-west. Then, too, a dissimilarity exists in the 
height of the cone, that of the Castle being greater 
and more flattened ; the Giant is lower, but more 
acute. 

This geyser has justly been styled " the Father of 
Geysers," and, in fact, it is the largest known geyser in 
the world. The tourist gazing at the gigantic flood of 
water shooting out of its crater will congratulate him- 
self that he is one of the favored few who are permit- 
ted to witness this unique wonder — a sight which no 
country but our own in any wise can produce. 

We stood looking with absorbed interest at the 
Grand Geyser on the evening of the 24th of August, 
3 882, when a "shout, prolonged and loud," arose from 
the crowd at the west end of the basin : " There goes 
the Giant !" and in an instant there was intense ex- 
citement, some scrambling around for their ponies 
to hurry to the scene, others rushing down the road 
with all possible speed, yelling like demons. Others 
plunged into the river and rushed madly through the 
swift-flowing water to get a glimpse at this grand foun- 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 103 

tain. But no haste is necessary : the Giant is very 
accommodating, and will play so long that every one 
may have a chance to witness its display. With the 
rest we hastened to the scene, but could not approach 
within less than one hundred yards of the crater, on 
account oi' the steaming flood of water that surrounded 
it to that distance. 

The Giant "goes off," as it is said, once in four days, 
but this interval is not constant ; and from observa- 
tion its action is generally found to occur at sunset or 
near that time. It will play for an hour and a half, 
and sometimes two hours ; so that there is ample time 
to see it. However, the tourist will want to get on the 
spot as soon as may be, for his own satisfaction. 

Language is almost too circumscribed to describe 
this phenomenon ; yet something must be said of it. 
As with the Giantess, a little vent by the side of the 
crater gives a premonition of the coming storm, and 
for some hours is in a violent state of confusion, boil- 
ing and sputtering away furiously, and never ceases 
until the Giant is once more at rest. Accompanied 
by all the noise and uproar of a cyclone or a tornado, 
with a tremendous explosion the crater is filled with 
steam, and a huge column of water nearly eight feet 
in diameter rises to the towering height of from two 
huudred and fifty to three hundred feet, This elevation 
is maintained for some time, when the torrent gradu- 
ally sinks to two hundred feet and plays steadily for an 
hour and a half. During the whole period the noise 
and the roar are almost intolerable and deafening ; so 
boisterous is the tumult of the elements that conversa- 
tion is impossible, and " you can hardly hear yourself 
think." 

The form of the jet while the geyser is playing 
is that of a huge column standing perfectly erect, 
with a brow encircled by a halo of steam and a 
rainbow of brilliant colors, rising and falling with 
the pulsations of the fountain, while the column of 
descending drops shrouds the pillar in a sparkling 



104 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

covering. A dense cloud of steam rises toward the 
sky and floats off on the breeze, filling the valley. 
Soon the water rushes down the sides of the mound, 
and the tourist is admonished by having his feet im- 
mersed very suddenly, ankle-deep, in a stream of ex- 
tremely hot water to seek the higher ground; and the bed 
of the river fills to overflowing by the increased flood 
that gravitates into it. Ordinarily, the river is here 
thirty-five yards wide and very rapid, but its volume 
is more than doubled by the eruption of the Giant, 
so vast is the quantity of water thrown out. 

Near the scene of this wonderful display is a very 
singular bed of semi-solid siliceous deposit; it lies just 
north of the Giant Geyser, toward the river. Here, for 
several hundred square feet, is a deposit of a peculiar 
elastic siliceous matter resembling glue ; in a semi-solid 
condition it is smooth and unctuous to the feel and 
very slippery to walk on. It is laid out in beds, or 
layers, about an inch thick, which may be peeled up, 
when the structure seems to be columnar or shreddy. 
It is elastic, and bounces like india-rubber. In many 
places it is of a brilliant green color ; in others red, of 
a very bright hue ; then yellow, and more frequently 
white and opalescent, filled with little pits, or depres- 
sions, containing water. Chemically speaking, it is 
probably silicate of alumina, which in time, by 
hardening, gives us the beautiful formation on which 
these geysers rest. How long it takes to harden is not 
yet known ; and now, after more than ten months, a 
specimen, after being kept all winter, is as soft as 
when taken from its bed by the side of the Giant 
Geyser ; and it appears likely to remain so for some 
time longer. 

Catfish Geyser. 
Near the Giant are a number of small geysers 
throwing more or less water all the time, except when 
the Giant acts. The largest of these is called the 
Catfish — why, we cannot explain. 



yki/lowstone national park. 105 

Grotto Geyser. 

North-west of the Giant about five hundred feet, and 
on the right of the road as you enter the basin, stands 
the Grotto Geyser, with the oddest of all the geyser- 
craters, and of a form that will puzzle the most pro- 
found to account for. We all have pet theories and 
fancies as to how this curious thing was formed, and, 
in fact, the attempt to unravel the mysteries is a great 
part of the enjoyment of the visit to the geyser basin. 
On a low elongated mound a few feet in height stands 
(as you view it from one side) a pillar of geyserite 
five feet in height, slightly leaning to one side. About 
this, in a semicircle, is a hollow bank or parapet also 
of geyserite formation, with openings at both ends 
like a tunnel, arched over and curved, so that both 
openings are on the same side of the crater. Near 
the pillar is a vertical opening of small size. The 
entire mass is white and snowy. On one side the outer 
wall of the tunnel is perpendicular ; on the other, 
sloping. The display of this fountain is not very 
striking in point of height, but it rivals all the others 
in the peculiarity of its action. Two streams of water 
are thrown out at an angle and with a sort of rotary 
motion, so that they impinge upon each other and 
unite in throwing a large column to the height of 
about forty feet,- the water being churned about in 
a most singular fashion. The eruption lasts about 
half an hour, and may be looked for every six 
hours. 

This geyser-mound is a wonderfully curious thing 
to look at, and so we go from one object to another 
with an untiring interest until, from sheer exhaustion, 
we are obliged to return to camp to rest. Having 
taken some refreshment, we again start out to visit 
the other geysers, at the north end of the basin. 

Riverside Geyser. 
Returning to the Giant, which so recently was in such 
violent action, we find nothing but the empty crater 



106 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

and a little steam coming from the vent, so we pass on 
and over the river to the north side; and there, just at 
hand, on the left side, is the Riverside Geyser. This 
is small in comparison with the rest that have been 
witnessed, and, were it not for the peculiarity of its 
crater, would be overlooked ; but it is a vigorous little 
fellow, and, could it be planted in some of our large 
cities, would attract some attention. It spouts ir- 
regularly, and sends a column sixty feet high. The 
crater stands on the summit of a mound that has 
been built up in six or more terraces, each smaller 
in area than the former one, thus making a curve 
with the edges of the terraces rounded off. There 
is no definite period when an eruption may be ex- 
pected, but twice or thrice a day a "spout" may be 
seen, lasting about seventeen minutes. 

Fan, or Fantail, Geyser. 

About two hundred yards north-west of the River- 
side Geyser is the Fan, or Fantail, Geyser, intrinsically 
small, but from its display very interesting. It consists 
of a group of five geyser-tubes opening at the same 
point, having a common crater and discharging at one 
and the same time. Each one of the tubes is inclined 
a little from its neighbor, and all radiate from a 
centre ; so that the effect of the eruption is to produce 
a huge outspread fan one hundred feet in height and 
as many wide. The central stream being higher and 
the four lateral ones shooting out to a less distance, the 
result is a fan of hot water which rivals the most 
showy production of the " german " or the " opera." 
Frequently, when the fan is spread, a fine bow will 
encase its entire margin, adding an exquisite fringe 
such as is never produced by the arts of man. It is 
a marvellously strange spectacle, and as it occurs three 
or four times a day — though the exact time is irregular — 
it will repay the tourist to saunter about in the neigh- 
borhood and wait to see it. The display lasts about fif- 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



107 



teen minutes, sometimes occurring in the light of a 
full autumnal moon, when it is beautiful in the ex- 
treme and seems very coquettish in its behavior. 

Splendid, or Pyramid, Geyser. 
Returning now to the south-west side of the river 
and reaching the Giant, you turn to the right and fol- 
low around the base of a little hill. Skirting the 



1 





SPLENDID GEYSER. 



north side, near the foot of a high hill you come to 
the cone of the Splendid, or Pyramid, Geyser. This is a 
comparatively new geyser, but issues from an old cone. 
Professor Hayden, in 1871, says of it: " There is one 
quite conspicuous cone marked on the chart — Pyra- 
mid — which is now extinct, except that from the sum- 
mit steam is constantly escaping. This has been a 
geyser of some importance, and has built up a struc- 



108 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

tare twenty-five feet high and one hundred feet in 
diameter at the base. Near it is a quiet spring with 
a most elegantly scalloped rim. . . ." 

This geyser is very beautiful, and in appearance 
somewhat resembles the Grand. Since Professor Hay- 
den wrote, it has broken out afresh, and is now very 
active. For the three years previous to 1881 it slept 
in quiet, save the little steam that issued from the 
crater ; now, however, in point of regularity, it is 
a rival to Old Faithful, though the intervals are 
longer, being once in three hours; but sometimes it 
will play in the half periods, or an hour and a half. 
There is no special indication that it is going to 
play, when suddenly it shoots up a jet to the height 
of two hundred feet, the display lasting from five 
to ten minutes. Occasionally, at the same time, a 
smaller fountain near it begins to play ; and, having 
an oblique stream, the two mingle, producing an 
arch of pearly drops that sparkle in the sun most 
brilliantly and fall in a glittering shower to the 
earth. 

Fairies' Well, or Punch-Bowl. 
About eight hundred feet south-west of the Pyra- 
mid, or Splendid, Geyser is a very curious formation 
known as the Fairies' Well, or Punch-Bowl. Here, on 
the summit of a flat mound, is a raised rim of geyser- 
ite about eighteen inches in height and several feet in 
diameter, enclosing a pool of that beautiful blue water 
so frequently met with in the Park. There is evi- 
dence — which to most minds is conclusive — that it 
was once a geyser and this is the remaining crater. 
The edge is scalloped and composed of layers of shell- 
work covered with excrescences of geyserite. The 
edge is very firm and hard, so you may approach 
quite to the margin, as in the Devil's Well, and 
look down into the chaos of blue water, in the raid- 
day sun resplendent with all the colors of the rain- 
bow. 



yellowstone national park. 109 

Black Sand Geyser. 
Seven hundred feet farther up the raviue, in the 
same direction from the Pyramid, we find the curious 
remains of an extinct geyser which is unique in its pe- 
culiarities. Approaching by way of the stream which 
flows from it, you come to a circular depression in the 
bed of geyserite, with a raised rim eleven feet in 
height and gently tapering with a funnel-shape to the 
margin of a beautiful pool, where the water is boiling 
up in the centre, and, breaking through the rim, forms 
the little stream which has led us to the spot. 
The water in the geyser is at a temperature of 200°. 
Unlike most of the geysers, in this one the margin 
is of very black sand, which leads one to the suppo- 
sition that at some time in bygone ages it may have 
been a mud volcano. 

Demon's Cave. 
Near the Black Sand Geyser is a deep pit in the 
geyserite, which has been washed out, leaving a crust 
suspended over a boiling caldron, from which steam 
is constantly arising, filling the cave with a cloud of 
mist, which at times obscures the surface of the water 
below. 

Soda Geyser. 
Off in the north-west corner of this basin, on the 
top of a very broad mound of geyserite, nearly two 
miles north-w T est of the camp at Castle Geyser, is a 
new geyser — the Soda, as it is called. It stands on the 
south-west bank of the river and about five hundred 
feet from the mouth of the Iron Spring Creek, which 
comes in from the west. Following the west bank of 
the river, passing several small springs, the geyser is 
easily found. It is not very pretentious, yet it is very 
pretty, from its symmetry and the regularity of its 
action. It is a cone-builder and spouts every ten 
minutes, sending up a very handsome column of water 
to the height of twenty-five or thirty feet. Its action 



110 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

is so much like that of a soda-fountain that the name 
"Soda Geyser" has been given it, which is confusing, 
as it might be supposed that there is soda in it ; which 
is not the case. 

This finishes our list of large geysers, and we have 
condensed it as much as possible. The tourist must 
not think that only those springs and geysers we have 
mentioned are worthy of observation : this is an error. 
There are many that we could not, for want of time, 
mention. In passing, we would say Professor F. V. 
Hayden and party counted in the Lower Geyser Ba- 
sin seven groups of springs and geysers — in all, two 
hundred and twenty-two — at an altitude of from six 
thousand eight hundred to six thousand nine hun- 
dred feet, and in the Upper Geyser Basin one hun- 
dred and six, at an altitude of seven thousand feet. 

Before leaving the subject of geysers — for we do 
not meet any of much size after leaving this basin — 
a short sketch of the theories concerning geysers may 
not be out of order. 

Bunsen's theory is briefly stated. Into the fissures 
of the rocks, coming up from an immense depth, water 
has found its way and become heated. Rising through 
the upper strata of rock in a boiling condition, it has 
dissolved out some of the earthy constituents of the 
rocks through which it has passed, and in this ex- 
tremely heated state rises higher and higher in the 
fissure. The direct origin of the heat is believed to 
be the decomposition of the sulphides of iron, lead and 
copper that are found in the rock of the regions about 
the Park, which are rich in these mineral deposits; 
and it is well known that the exposure of large bodies 
of these minerals to air and moisture will engender 
intense heat — so much so that the bonanza mines of 
Nevada cannot be worked continuously, and great 
fires in some of the coal-mines have been attributed to 
this cause. It is very probable that this is the origin 
of the heat producing the geysers. It would seem 
that the origin or cause of the display is this: The 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Ill 

water in the geyser-tubes being confined under great 
pressure and at a high degree of heat, the pressure 
from below forces the column of water up higher and 
higher in the tube ; as it reaches the surface the pres- 
sure is more and more released, and finally a point is 
reached where the pent-up, superheated water flashes 
into steam and the pressure is relieved by the dis- 
charge of the jet. 

To account for some of the geysers, this plan must 
be to a certain extent modified. For instance, we find 
that some of them pulsate, while others send up a 
steady stream. The pulsating geyser may be accounted 
for by supposing a large reservoir, or cavity, in which, 
as the heated water rises, it is flashed into steam and 
fills the cavity with water and steam. By degrees the 
pressure has accumulated to such an extent in this 
cavity that it is blown out, and the first impulse to the 
geyser is witnessed. Part of the water again returns 
down the geyser tube, and at the instant the pressure 
is released by the upthrust of the column of water a 
body of steam is again suddenly created in the cavity, 
which, meeting the descending water, hurls it back, 
giving the second impulse ; and so on till the water is 
cooled to such a degree that it fails to make steam in 
sufficient quantities for an eruption. In the steady 
geysers we may assume that there is no such cavity, 
unless it be very far down, and that the accumulating 
steam shoots the collected water out at a single effort. 

The geysers are all more or less coated with geyserite 
— a species of opal — and the water, when cool, is per- 
fectly potable, having a very pleasant mineral taste 
when the iron is not too strong. 

There is one fact in passing that may be of interest 
to the scientific tourist — namely, that most of the now 
active geysers on the north side of the river have no 
cones or elevated craters, although some of the great 
springs have a large cone, or rim. The Beehive and 
the small groups near the Lion, with the Riverside 
and the Fan tail, are the only ones with a cone on 



112 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

the north side, while, without exception, all the gey- 
sers on the south side have cones, and very consider- 
able ones. These facts might seem to indicate that 
the coneless geysers are the later ones and have not 
yet had time to build up a structure. The water from 
all seems to deposit opal, or geyserite. Here is the 
fact ; but it will not do for us to stop to discuss this 
matter at this time. 

The name "geyser" (ghi-zer) is an importation 
from Iceland ; it means, in that tongue, " rager " or 
" roarer," and the name is derived from the horrible 
sounds emitted during the eruptions. The word "gey- 
ser" is, in fact, a near relative of our word gusher, 
which it so nearly resembles in form. 

The tourist, mounted on a cay use and accompanied 
by a pack-train, will take the road to the south end of 
the basin, once more passing and stopping to take a 
last lingering look at Old Faithful, now vigorously 
spouting as a parting salute; and, looking back with 
regret on the wonderful valley with its pillars of cloud 
rising on every hand like incense, he turns into the 
trail, south of Old Faithful, to visit the Shoshone Lake 
and geyser basin, if time permits, or to go right to the 
West Bay, or the Thumb of the Yellowstone Lake. 
If he has a team, he must forego the trip to the West 
Bay of the lake, and return by the road to the Lower 
Geyser Basin and take the road to the right to the 
falls and lake by the way of Mary's Lake and Sul- 
phur Mountain. 

In leaving the Upper Basin by the trail the tourist 
unaccompanied by a guide will be very careful to 
keep the trail. South of Old Faithful, on the extreme 
right, there is a well-marked trail leading to the left 
that will conduct the tourist into a dense wilderness, 
in which he will lose much valuable time trying to get 
out. Keep the right-hand trail till after the first left- 
hand trail is passed (the one we have just spoken of ) ; 
then, if you wish to go to Shoshone Lake, keep to the 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



113 



right at the Dext path, which will take you past a 
small hot-spring deposit of minor importance; then, 
about a mile and three-quarters south of this, on the 
south side of a little stream, which must be crossed, 
the trail again forks, the right-hand trail going to 
Madison Lake — a small sheet of water about half a 
mile long lying right on the north side of the main 
chain of the Rocky Mountains, with a dense forest of 
pine trees extending down to the very shore. There 
is a ridge projecting into the lake, giving it a heart 
shape. 

The trail to this lake follows the Madison River, 
then, turning to the east, crosses the Rocky Mountains 
and descends to the geyser basin of Shoshone Lake. 
The trail to the left is more direct, crossing the moun- 
tains and following down the Shoshone Creek to the 
geyser basin. 



~\ 




CHAPTER XII. 

Falls of the Madison, or Firehole, River. 

The route by way of Mary's Lake being uninteresting 
and most of it a repetition of that already travelled, the 
tourist will do well to take the trail to the West Bay, or 
Thumb. Keeping to the left, therefore, after passing 
the first path, south of the Old Faithful Geyser, and 
travelling about two miles over a constantly ascending 
path, hugging closely the sides of the cafion and cross- 
ing over short stretches of corduroy road, by a sudden 
turn in the way you come face to face with the Falls 
of the Firehole River — a beautiful fall of upward of 
one hundred and fifty feet, the water pitching over a 
ledge of volcanic rock down into a deep pool below, 
the narrow gorge through which it falls contracting 
to a mere defile between the bald faces of the 
cliffs. With the river like a fine thread of silk, far 
below, winding among the pine trees at the foot of the 
canon, the picture is very fine, and from the point 
where it is best seen the traveller is loath to go, but, 
remembering that a long ride awaits him, reluctantly 
leaves this wild and picturesque spot, which in its 
quietude offers a welcome rest after the roar and tu- 
mult of the geysers. 

Norris Pass. 
Pushing on through forest trees and open parks of 
magnificent verdure, by a gradual ascent we reach the 
Norris Pass, in the Rocky Mountains. The pass is a 
narrow canon, or gulch, cut through the ridge in the 
mountain as smooth and evenly as if excavated for a 
114 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 115 

railroad, the rocks stand- 
ing on either side like walls 
of ruined masonry. The 
entire length of the pass 
is not above one-quarter 
of a mile, and, having 
passed through this gate, 
we are on the Pacific Slope. 
Having shut out the Val- 
ley of the Mississippi, we 
look now toward the Pa- 
cific Ocean. 

Shoshone Lake. 
On the east side we descend 
cry rapidly to the valley be- 
low, and from the crest of a 
small hill, turning to the right, 
a view of the north arm of the 
Shoshone Lake is had, with 
a beautiful valley stretching 
away to the north of it, shut 
in completely by a fold in the 
mountains. 

Soon we are in this valley, 
and by taking the trail to the 
right, on the east bank 
of De Lacy Creek, 
which is forded, we 
are in a short time 
on the shore of the 
lake, a sheet of clear, 
pure water without a 
single fish, but pos- 
sessed of abundant 
vegetable life, having 
I an area of about one 
madiso^caSw. hundred square miles, 

with a cluster of hot 




116 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

springs of little note at the north end on either side 
of the De Lacy Creek, and another on the west side, 
as before described. The level of this lake is two 
hundred feet lower than the Yellowstone, though only- 
six miles distant. 

Lewis Lake. 

The waters of this lake empty into Lewis Lake, about 
three and a half miles to the south, and there form the 
Lewis Fork of the Snake River, a branch of the Colum- 
bia River. To the south-east of Lewis Lake is the 
the Red Mountain range, with Mount Sheridan (ten 
thousand three hundred and eighty-five feet high) a 
conspicuous object. 

We soon pass through one of those singular grassy 
parks or lawns so common in many places in the 
Park — a spot in the midst of a dense pine forest, 
generally circular, where the trees seem to have been 
blighted in some peculiar manner. There is no evi- 
dence of their having died ; no stumps are found, no 
decaying trunks, no thinning out of the trees near 
the margin, but there is simply a hole cut out in the 
forest, the floor perfectly level and carpeted with a 
rich growth of fine grass. There seems to be no ex- 
planation for the occurrence of these curious lawns. 

Two-Ocean Pond and the Backbone of 
America. 
Taking the left-hand trail after fording De Lacy 
Creek, the way now commences to ascend the moun- 
tain and is the most precipitous trail ever travelled by 
human beings: it is with difficulty the rider can keep 
his seat as the cayuse makes his way upward; but 
presently you rest on the summit, a few rods from 
Two-Ocean Pond. Here, upon the summit of the 
Rocky Mountains, we stand on the backbone of the 
American continent, and on the one hand see the 
waters of this pond in a fine stream flowing off to the 
westward, down mountain-sides, over rocky precipices, 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 117 

to mingle at last with the waters of the mighty Pacific 
Ocean, on the other hand a similar stream hastening 
on its way to the Atlantic Ocean, the two streams thus 
absolutely dividing the continent into two islands. 
The timber is so dense here that you cannot see the 
horizon except to the southward, where you have a 
view of the Ked Mountains and the valley of Lewis 
Lake. 

While resting on the summit one of the mules, 
scenting, no doubt, the rich pasture at the foot of the 
mountains, gave vent to one of those brays such as 
only a mule can give, and started off on a run down the 
mountain-side, with its pack banging against the trees. 
To avoid losing both pack and mule, we put the 
spurs into the most stubbornly slow cayuse we ever 
had mounted. The ride down the trail to the West 
Bay of the lake was not slow, and, fatigued, we spread 
out on the grass and waited for the " boys." 




CHAPTEK XIII. 

West Bay, or Thumb, of Yellowstone Lake. 

At the point where the trail first strikes the shore 
of the lake is an excellent place to camp, and it has 
been selected for a hotel-site. The grassy bank is 
raised some twenty feet above the surface of the lake, 
with a level floor, on which grow majestic pine trees 
not so tall as the sequoia, but giving abundance of 
grateful shade and adding another interesting feature 
to the landscape, already very charming. Some dis- 
tance from the foot of the bluff a broad, smooth, 
tapering beach stretches away to the water of the 
lake, composed of light-colored pebbles and sand 
ground to atoms by the ceaseless ripple and surge of 
the waters, which are lashed to foam on the beach or 
broken into spray against the neighboring rock to the 
north. 

The woods extend quite down to the edge of the 
bluff, and the tourist, leaning his back against one of 
the huge trunks, feasts on the landscape. To the south 
a high range of snow-capped mountains raise their 
lofty heads to the clouds, their noble summits resplen- 
dent in the brilliant whiteness of the snow and ice 
that rest upon them, now bathed in the crimson light 
of a setting sun, while the rosy-tinted clouds hanging 
over the horizon and reflected in the blue and rippling 
water of the lake at your feet carry the mind away, 
and reverie takes possession of the soul. In front, to 
the eastward, stretches a waste of blue water to a dis- 
tance of five miles, hemmed in by an even row of for- 
est trees, surmounting the white bluff and standing, 
a dark-green line, between the white of the bluff and 

118 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 119 

the blue of heaven. This is Delusion Point, which 
shuts in the West Thumb. Near the camp, on the 
south, is the mouth of a small stream, which comes in 
from the mountain, wideniDg, when it reaches the lake, 
into a considerable bay rank with weeds and rushes 
and abounding with ducks and teal. The woods on 
either hand furnish a plentiful supply of pine-squir- 
rels, which are very fine eating, and at this time of the 
year generally in good condition and go well with the 
flapjacks when made into a stew. In the mountains 
to the south-west a blacktail deer or an occasional elk 
may be found. To the north of our camp is a cluster 
of hot springs, to which we will return. 

Yellowstone Lake. 

So grand is the view which we have described, as 
we see it for the first time after descending from the 
mountains, that we have almost forgotten to speak of 
the lake itself. It is traversed by the Yellowstone 
River, whence it takes its present name. The older 
writers often call it Sublette's Lake. 

The tired citizen pursuing his daily vocation amid 
the hot walls and dusty streets of a sultry metropolis 
little dreams of the vast outspread area of crystal 
water, with a temperature of nearly 45° F. at midday 
in August, that hangs suspended amid the clouds, 
seven thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight feet 
above him, with three hundred miles of coast-line 
and a view extending for more than forty good miles 
across its bosom, which is dotted with islands. The 
contour of the lake is very irregular, being deeply in- 
dented with bays; and, from the number of these bays, 
the lake has been likened to a hand, and the west 
bay is called the Thumb. 

Flat Mountain. 
Travelling southward and following a dim trail, we 
may make a complete circuit of the waters ; but time 



120 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

will not permit it, and we halt at Flat Mountain, a 
point directly south of the outlet. Here the moun- 
tain rises to a height of nine thousand two hundred 
feet and presents a most extensive view over the lake 
aud mountains beyond. At the foot of the mountain, 
to the north, is Flat Mountain Finger of the lake, and 
a little north of this is another finger, called Delusion 
Lake — a marshy region with water-fowl in great abun- 
dance at certain seasons of the year, and a fine breed- 
ing-ground for the duck and teal, while the stalking 
heron and the pelican wade among the marshes in 
quest of food. Across a narrow stretch of water is 
Frank's Island, a strip of land three miles long 
and only one wide, covered with trees and giving 
shelter to much game, and about two miles far- 
ther north-east is Dot Island. To the east lie 
the South Finger and the South-East Finger of 
the lake, separated from each other by a high point 
of densely-wooded land. Nearly in the same line 
with this point from Flat Mountain is Brimstone 
Basin. To the south, over the main range, may 
be seen Mount Sheridan, rearing its even summit 
toward the sky, with its broad crown covered with a 
capping of perpetual snow, while in the deep ravines 
of its rugged sides lie the inexhaustible source of its 
many streams, the glaciers, and ever and anon may be 
heard the thundering of a mighty avalanche as it 
sweeps down the mountain, mowing the trees in its 
course like grain before a reaper's scythe. Its summit 
is ten thousand three hundred and eighty-five feet in 
altitude. 

Heart Lake and Geyser Basin. 

On the eastern slope of Mount Sheridan is Heart 
Lake, with a small geyser basin on the north-west ; 
this has little interest as yet, being entirely eclipsed 
by the upper basin of the Firehole Kiver. This ba- 
sin, as well as Mount Sheridan, is reached by a trail 
which turns to the right about two miles out on the 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 121 

trail to Flat Mountain from the camp at West Bay, 
or Thumb, which is called, also, 

" Hot Springs Camp." 

Before quitting the West Bay, or Thumb, we will take 
a look at the springs and geysers to be found at this 
point, and whose presence gives rise to the name of 
" Hot Springs Camp." The basin extends three miles 
along the coast, and some half a mile back into the coun- 
try. In fact, a most singular phenomenon is to be seen 
in this basin. In many places the chimneys of the hot 
springs stand up like boiling caldrons in the midst of 
the cold waters of the lake, with which they are sur- 
rounded to a depth of many fathoms ; and where the 
hot water pours over into the lake those who desire it 
may find a most refreshing bath. The upper stratum 
of water being hot and the deeper ones cold, you can 
vary the temperature to suit the inclination — from 
45° to 190°. 

Crater Island. 

One of these chimneys stands apart from the shore, 
an island of itself, with a boiling crater in its centre. 
It is an actual fact that the tourist may stand on the 
sides of this crater, and, catching a trout, may, with- 
out taking him from the hook, toss him into it and 
cook him. It is not a trick, and every one does it. 

Tapering Spring. 
One of these hot springs is remarkably beautiful. It 
is back a little from the water's edge and has a scal- 
loped, indented margin, the edge projecting for some 
inches over the water, so that it shelves out and, it be- 
ing composed of fragile geyserite, the tourist will be 
cautious how he approaches, as it may perhaps give way 
and precipitate him into the boiling pool. The sides 
of this pool appear to taper, but the great depth may 
account for this appearance, as three hundred and fifty 
feet have been reached, and at that depth any cylinder 
would appear to taper. Still, the effect is all the same, 



122 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

and, as at many other springs of the Park, as you gaze 
down into the indigo depths of these seething basins you 
wonder, " Why is this ?" Three hundred and fifty feet, 
and no outlet below, no boiling or bubbling to prevent 
your seeing the bottom (or what appears such) ; yet it 
is not a geyser, and still it maintains its heat near the 
boiling-point of water. It is most strange. Truly, 
the National Park is a phenomenal place, and on every 
hand the tourist is beset with wonders such as no 
other spot on the face of the whole world can afford, 
for either numbers, grandeur or the facilities with 
which they may be witnessed. 

Mud Springs and Paint-Pots. 
Back of the Tapering Spring is a fine collection of 
paint-pots or mud springs. They have built for them- 
selves small crater-mounds in some places, while in 
others the mud-spouts are shot up from the bosom of a 
large bed of soft mud of a most beautiful pink color 
and of extremely fine and soft texture, reminding one 
of the beds of " white-coat" used by plasterers in fin- 
ishing up. The mud is thrown to a height of several 
feet, and it is very interesting to see with what pre- 
cision the drop of mud falls back into the small ori- 
fice from which it has been ejected when the wind is 
favorable, or, rather, when there is no wind at all. At 
certain times the power of the eruption will hurl out 
a cluster of mud-drops, which descend on the soft mud 
and stick there in little conical masses, presenting a 
very curious appearance. This mud contains a large 
amount of iron and alumina, with some lime and 
silica. 

Yellowstone Lake Trout. 
The tourist will hear many and wild stories about 
the "wormy trout" of the lake, and there is some 
truth in the rumor that the fish are hosts for a para- 
sitic worm. This is a circumstance which has puzzled 
scientific men for a number of vears — ever since the 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 123 

fact was known. In the water of the lake and its tribu- 
taries, and down the Yellowstone River as far as the 
upper falls, you will find some of the fish infested with 
a long, slender white worm, named by our honored 
instructor, Prof. Joseph Leidy, who has made a mi- 
nute study of this animal, Dibothrium cordiceps. The 
worm is found in the intestines and flesh of the trout 
(Salmo pleuriticus) at certain seasons of the year and at 
certain ages of the fish. The infested fish may be seen 
to be languid, paler in color and poorer in flesh than 
the healthy fish, and will, as the number of worms in* 
creases, swim higher in the water ; but they seldom die 
of this malady, and it is said that after a certain length 
of time the animal will make his way out of the body 
of the fish, leaving it even more healthy and in better 
flesh than originally. . In such fish a cicatrix may be 
found on the sides. Some say these fish, as a rule, 
are unfit for food ; but the rule is (at least, such is the 
writer's experience) that the majority of the fish are 
fine eating, and that the wormy specimens are the ex- 
ceptions to this rule. 

You can always tell the wormy trout by one or more 
little bulges or lumps on the sides of the body, and 
usually near the pectoral fin. Then, again, the sickly 
fish are poor in flesh, and you will detect at a glance 
the marked difference between the fine, healthy trout 
of a pound or two in weight you have just hooked out 
of the lake, because he was so hungry for your grass- 
hopper, and the sickly specimen that hangs limply 
to your line without a single flop. And no qne should 
be deterred from eating these delicious salmon-trout 
because he is afraid of getting a wormy one. The 
meat is very fine and fully equal to the celebrated 
brook trout of our Eastern States. By all means try- 
some of the Yellowstone trout. 

The cause of the existence of the worm in the fish is 
a mystery, and will no doubt remain so. It is known 
that it is found only in the fish of the Yellowstone 
Lake and its vicinity, and that this is a distinct spe- 



124 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



cies of worm and found in no other fish and in no 
other locality — not even the Yellowstone River itself 
below the falls, though the fish is very plentiful. 

The ease with which the trout are caught in the 
lake has led to the most uncalled-for and wanton de- 
struction of them by the " crazy " angler, who will pull 
out trout by the hundred for sport, and leave them 
rotting in the sun just for fun. We are glad to know 
that this species of vandalism will soon be stopped, 
and every American tourist should, for the sake of the 
honor of the human family, constitute himself a vigi- 
lance committee of one to stop this diabolical work 
and perpetuate the attractions of the National Park. 

Elk-Hunting. 

By those who are sportsmen fresh meat is obtained 
from the neighboring forest and hillsides in the shape 
of elk-meat, which at certain seasons of the year is 
very good and not prohibited by law as an article of 
food, but the tourist is admonished to refrain from 
shooting elk merely to be devoured by the wolves, as 
has been done. One " man " — a gentleman from New 
York — boasted that he had shot five cow-elk just for 
sport. The tourist in the East may not think any- 
thing of this statement; but if he had experienced 
how useful this noble animal is, he would deplore the 
wholesale slaughter that is going on. 




CHAPTER XIV. 

Bluff Point. 

Leaving Hot Springs Camp, the trail follows the 
shore of the lake northward over the shelly white de- 
posit which the springs have formed. In many places 
the 'pieces, broken small, are cemented together like 
shells on the coast of the Mexican Gulf. Soon the 
trail enters a dense evergreen forest of pine and spruce 
trees of conical forms, like those so much admired by us 
in the East. Evergreen trees of highly ornamental 
shapes are here scattered about at random on a sward 
of fine-bladed grass upon a gently-sloping hillside, con- 
stituting a park of very pleasing arrangement. Hith- 
er and thither among the branches of the trees the 
squirrels gambol, while creeping under the pendent 
boughs on the ground is the mountain-grouse. 

Three miles of such riding brings us to the summit 
of Bluff Point, a high projection on the west side 
of the lake : from this point may be had a view of 
the lake which, while it is not so far-reachiug as that 
from the outlet, is still very fine. Several hundred 
feet below you the restless waters of the bay lash the 
white sands of the shore ; and the graceful shore-line, 
with high bluffs and tall pine trees, stretches away 
to the south. In front lies Carrenton's Island, with 
its grove of evergreen trees, and a sea of bright blue 
water surrounding it. The finest view is that to the 
northward, where is stretched before you a miniature 
Bay of Naples, with its graceful beach of light sand 
and gravel backed by a gently-sloping lawn of grass 
and trees. At the farther end of the beach, about a 
mile distant, is the crater of a boiling spring, the water 

125 



126 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

splashing over into the lake amid the splutter of steam, 
an aqueous Vesuvius. 

Rock Point and Sand Point. 

Beyond, the shore-line stretches to the eastward, and 
the rocky bluffs of Pock Point and Sand Point are 
cut out against the distant horizon. Through the nar- 
rows to the south of these points may be seen Dot 
Island and the farther shore of the Yellowstone Lake. 

The way now leads into and through a dense forest 
of evergreen trees, past some of those curious little 
parks of beautiful, rich grass, the haunts of the elk 
and the deer at a later season. Now we ascend the 
high land and turn away from the shores of the lake. 

Eight miles from the Hot Springs Camp we come 
to a forest of lodge-poles, all dead, and the country a 
barren wilderness, with the sun beating down on the 
head of the tired traveller with relentless fury, in re- 
taliation for the carelessness of tourists who left their 
camp-fire unextinguished and ignited the timber in 
consequence. 

Natural Bridge. 

Eleven miles from the camp at Hot Springs we de- 
scend by a steep path over loose sand or gravel to the 
south shore of Bridge Creek, and across this, on the 
opposite side, is the hillside and chasm spanned by the 
Natural Bridge. 

Crossing the stream, we ride by a circuitous trail 
backward and forward along the mountain-side to the 
top of the bridge, which is an arch of volcanic rock 
some thirty feet long spanning a ravine cut out of the 
solid stone by the action of a stream which now flows 
beneath the arch and plunges over a step eighty feet 
high, traversing the grassy meadow below and rushing 
on to the creek. On one side the chasm is very deep ; 
on the other it is probably but fifty feet in depth. 

Colonel Norris says the bridge has at one time been 
the crest of a fall, and that the stream has found its 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 127 

way out at the bottom of the thin dam and under- 
mined the rocks above, which have fallen away, leav- 
ing the arch of the bridge. But certainly a very long 
time must have elapsed while these elements were at 
work ; for since the w r ater has ceased to fall over the 
upper crest trees of considerable height have grown 
up. 

The footway of the bridge is five to six feet wide 
and safe to travel over even with a horse. The timid 
tourist will cross the ravine higher up the stream, 
taking the trail on the west side. 

The Natural Bridge has been known only for the 
past couple of years, and it is very probable that many 
new curiosities will be found in its vicinity as the prog- 
ress of research advances. 

Soon after leaving the Natural Bridge, rounding a 
point in the trail, you come in sight of Bridge Bay, 
and across a stretch of water two miles wide are the 
wooded banks of Stevenson's Island. The view of this 
bay is very pleasing, and affords great relief after the 
passage amongst the dead timber through which you 
have been journeying for the last five miles. On the 
north shore of the bay the country is comparatively 
level and the verdure is fine. Here are the abandon- 
ed camps of Indians, and by the old camp-fires arrow- 
heads and trinkets of obsidian and lava may be found. 

Elephant's Back. 
About three and a half miles from the Natural 
Bridge the trail again begins to ascend, and climbs 
along the side of a mountain which reaches to the 
height of eight thousand eight hundred feet. The 
round and somewhat flat summit and the very steep 
sides give it the name of " Elephant's Back." The 
trail is almost impassable from its steepness and from 
the fact that you are at any moment liable to be 
dragged off your horse by the trees through which 
the path leads. With a little labor there could be 
made a most charming path that would give a fine 



128 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

view of the lake and enable the tourist to journey 
in comfort. 

About a mile of this scrambling over the Elephant's 
Back brings you to another fine meadow. Stretching 
out to the north and east for many miles, it is a vast 
park studded with evergreen trees. Through it mean- 
ders the little stream flowing from the mountain-side, 
and farther on the Yellowstone River. Wheeling to 
the right, we arrive at a little clump of trees on a 
low bluff by the lake-shore, where again we halt to 
look about us. 

Outlet of the Yellowstone Lake. 
We have now reached the point where this mighty 
lake, lying in the midst of jutting mountain-peaks, 
with its depth of water exceeding forty-nine fathoms 
(two hundred and ninety-four feet), is contracted to a 
small stream of beautifully clear water, a few hundred 
feet wide and so shallow that it may be waded. 

Scenes on the Lake-Shore. 
The tourist must not think that now he has reached 
the end of the lake everything is over ; on the con- 
trary, sights that differ from anything we have yet 
seen, and which surpass anything of the kind to be 
seen elsewhere, will be met with right at this point. 
While the guide is making camp we sit upon the 
bluff and look out over the water. At our feet is a 
beautiful shelving beach several rods wide, reaching 
down from the foot of a steep sand-bluff from fifteen to 
twenty feet high and extending far out under the rip- 
pling water. On the summit of the bluff stand the 
pine trees, reaching upward toward the blue sky. On 
the beach below are patches of large pebbles of agate, 
carnelian and other precious stones intermixed with 
small masses of obsidian and lava. On the right 
hand is a little bay, its wooded point jutting out into 
the lake and partly hiding the opposite shore. In the 
distance rise the lofty summits of the Red Mountain 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 129 

range. Nearer we see the crown of Flat Mountain, 
and in the foreground is Frank's Island, shutting off 
the view of Flat Mountain Finger and the mountains 
beyond. Then, casting the eye more to the east and 
peering through a defile in the mountains one milp 
wide, we have a view of an uninterrupted stretch of 
water upward of twenty miles in extent, broken only 
by the white caps and ripples that later in the day keep 
the surface of the lake in constant motion. The moun- 
tains shut in the South-East Finger, except at the defile 
mentioned. On the west is Promontory Point, rising 
to a height of one thousand one hundred feet above 
the level of the lake, with its sides tapering graceful- 
ly upward, steeper on the east and more sloping to 
the northward. On the east of the South-East Finger 
rise the Signal Hills (one thousand six hundred feet), 
and back of them Mount Stevenson, ten thousand four 
hundred and twenty feet high, and Mount Doaue, ten 
thousand seven hundred and thirteen feet in altitude, 
presenting a picture that is grand beyond expression. 
As the tourist contemplates such magnificence he is con- 
strained to say, " What is man ?" On Signal Hills and 
Mount Stevenson the pure white snow is still lying in 
large patches like white blankets. Away off, at the 
foot of these mountains, over the west end of Signal 
Hills, on a clear day may be seen the ascending steam 
from the craters of Brimstone Basin. Following on 
round the east coast we detect, at the foot of a hill one 
thousand two hundred feet above the lake-level, an- 
other column of steam ; this is from the hot springs 
of Lake Butte Basin. 

Now we have passed with our glance the little island, 
Pelican's Roost, and north-east of this Steamboat 
Point, which form the eastern boundary of Mary's 
Bay and Concertina Cove. Just opposite us is Storm 
Point, the west boundary of Mary's Bay. Here is a 
famous camping-place for the nomadic bands of In- 
dians that in years gone by came to the lake to fish 
and hunt for wild-fowl in the little water called Indian 



130 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 




Pond ; here dili- 
gent search may 
reward the curi- 
os i t y - 1 o v i n g 
tourist with 
many speci- 
mens of arrow- 
heads and stone 
spears. It is a 
singular fact 
that at the 
north end of 
the lake the 
relics of the 
early Indian 
visits are dis- 
covered in great 
^number, but 
none to any ex- 
istent are found 
at the south 
end; it is very 



£OE> T ERY ON THE YELLOWSTONE LAKE. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 131 

probable that the aborigines never crossed the moun- 
tains to the south. 

Sunset on the Lake. 
Pelican Creek empties into Indian Pond, and we 
have now made the tour of the shore of the lake. 
While we have been contemplating the scene the sun 
has gone down many degrees, and the lengthening 
shadows steal across the blue water. Now the) r have 
reached the foot of the distant mountains, and stead- 
ily climb higher and higher, and the setting sun tinges 
the sides and summits with a warm hue. Now the de- 
clining rays cast a lingering glance at the fading land- 
scape, and the mountains blush with a rosy pink to the 
very summits as the snow on their bald heads changes 
into a ruddy glow and the deeper shadows bathe the 
bosom of the lake with their neutral tints. Now the 
clouds that hover over the mountains have caught the 
inspiration, and with the most gorgeous tints of soften- 
ed crimson float away in an ether of azure blue. The 
whole effect is heightened by a most singularly clear 
bluish atmosphere which is remarkable. A sight like 
this fills the soul and hushes the breath ; you gaze 
in silence at the ever-changing panorama till all 
is lost to the view. 

Moonlight on the Lake. 
The scene shifts, revealing the lake in the mellow 
light of the moon. All the stage-furniture has re- 
mained ; the background is the same, but the light is 
different. Now everything is bathed in the pale light 
of a brilliant moon. The distant mountains stand out 
against the horizon like gaunt, spectral shapes frown- 
ing down upon the tranquil water with a grim visage. 
All nature seems hushed, and one stands bewildered 
at the sudden change that has come over the scene. 
Now the moon has reached the zenith, and broad 
beams of silver light come rippling over the water. 
In it dance airy shadows, wafted hither and thither by 



132 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

the evening wind as it stoops to kiss the placid bosom 
of the lake. Now the romantic tourists steal forth 
in fantastic garbs to enact on the sandy beach some 
fragments of a drama, while from the water comes the 
orchestral murmur of the waves like soft and distant 
music. If the tourist visits the lake at that season of 
the year without catching a fever of enthusiasm at the 
sights he witnesses at the Yellowstone Lake and burst- 
ing out in some kind of pathetic strain, he must be a 
most unimpressionable mortal. At sunrise the lake 
is again resplendent with the many and varied tints of 
the rainbow, and it is no exaggeration to say that it is 
gorgeous. 

Swans, Pelicans and other Fowl. 
With the glass more plainly, but still quite clearly 
without it, you will see the majestic swans gracefully 
sailing about in their white coats, with their arched 
necks bent artistically back upon the body as proudly 
as if the whole human family stood looking at them. 
Flocks of twenty or thirty may be seen clustered 
about the shore at Pelican's Roost, or pluming them- 
selves on the bank after the morning bath in the 
cold waters of the lake. Now they separate into 
smaller bands and wander far out on the bosom of 
the now smooth, calm lake, whose water is ruffled 
by not a single ripple and lies like a sheet of molten 
gold. In the marsh and along the river the peli- 
can may be seen striding amid the reeds and rushes 
w T ith cautious tread, hunting the slumbering trout 
or snapping up the noisy frog in the midst of his 
morning chant. Now the flocks of wild ducks and 
geese come out from the marsh with their noisy 
quacking, and bustle about incessantly, as if all the 
business of the day must be settled at once ; while the 
great northern diver, with his mate, starts out in a 
straight course for the distant shore. Altogether, this 
is a spot where the tourist may exclaim, "Oh, for a 
lodge in some vast wilderness I" 



CHAPTER XV. 
Mud Geyser, or Giant's Caldron. 

Having rested amid the charms of the lake, we 
again take up the line of march by the wagon-road to 
the falls and the hot springs. Climbing up the hills 
to the northward before leaving the lake for ever, we 
halt upon the crest of a little hill and take one fond, 
lingering look back on the beautiful sheet of water 
below. 

Now the road enters the timber, and we ride a 
mile or so along a beautiful road, then emerge again 
upon the banks of the river. After crossing a little 
flat meadow, from the road we look right down upon 
the river, whose water is so clear and still that the 
large trout may plainly be seen gliding about from 
place to place, singly or huddled together in schools. 

Two miles from the outlet is a small hot-spring 
basin in the woods, and a trail turning to the left 
leads directly to it. Leaving this, the road still con- 
tinues through the timber for about four miles, pass- 
ing places where the woods have been wantonly de- 
stroyed by the careless tourist, when we reach the Mud 
Geyser of the Yellowstone River, or the Giant's Cal- 
dron. It is six miles from the outlet of Yellowstone 
Lake. Here is a cluster of several interesting mud 
springs and geysers. One of them has a circular 
rim, raised about four feet in height above the ground, 
with a mouth or crater nearly eight feet in diameter. 
In this spring the surface of the mud is seven feet be- 
low the mouth or orifice. The geyser is constantly 
active, throwing out its drops of mud and puffing like 
a pot of boiling mush. At times the mud is thrown 

133 



134 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

out vertically and drops directly back; at others it 
falls on the rim. The crater-wall has been formed by 
the accumulation of these drops of mud. Near this is 
a basin forty feet across, which is much depressed ; wa- 
ter is flowing into it from a small stream, falling over 
the edge, down some ten feet to the surface of the pool, 
which is covered by a thick scum, presenting a repul- 
sive appearance. In the immediate neighborhood are 
some smaller springs of various-colored mud, all active, 
throwiug the mud to a greater or less height. 

On the side-hill, in a small ravine to the west of 
this spot, is a singular boiling spring, the Giant's 
Caldron. Immense volumes of steam are issuing 
from it, and as you approach the sides of the crater 
you will hear the intermittent roar of the boiling water. 
The crater's rim has been built by the mud thrown 
out by the spring, and is nearly circular, at top forty 
feet in diameter and of a funnel-shape internally, at 
the bottom (thirty feet down) only some twenty feet 
across. The interest of this spring is mainly in its 
action, for all the mud springs have a more or less 
similarly shaped crater, but the Giant's Caldron is 
unique. Unlike most of the mud springs, it is not 
content to boil quietly and " throw mud " at the sur- 
rounding rim, but accompanies its action with a roar 
that may be heard half a mile away, while the solid 
earth quivers with the fury of the action. Looking 
over the deep, cup-shaped edge of the crater, you see 
at times, when a breeze stirs the steam and allows a 
glimpse of the bottom, a basin filled with black mud 
surging violently backward and forward with the 
force of the tempest. On one side, emerging from 
under the dark rock, issues forth a flood of inky 
water in a violent state of ebullition, gushing out 
with a deafening roar, hurling the hot mud out of 
the crater and depositing it on the branches of the 
trees near the mouth. The fact that trees thirty feet 
in height have grown upon the deposit of this crater 
proves it to be of considerable antiquity and tells us 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 135 

without words that this spring has for many decades 
been rumbling and boiling in this way. 

The Grotto. 

Near the Caldron is a spring called the Grotto, 
which consists of a cavern in the rock about five feet 
in diameter, from which a column of steam issues, and 
a turbulent roaring is kept up by the boiling flood 
within. The water is perfectly clear, and w T hen the 
the steam is blown aside, so that you can look into 
the cavern, it is found to be very beautiful. The 
cavernous walls surrounding this spring render its 
sounds awful, and its sepulchral tones echo from wall 
to wall in one continuous refrain. The rising steam 
and moisture give nourishment to herbage, which is 
very luxuriaut about the mouth of the cave. 

This spring is singular in its clearness. All the other 
springs of this basin are clouded or muddy, but here 
is a clear spring of beautiful blue water. To attempt 
to explain this would fill many more pages than we 
can spare. 

On the south there is a large basin, in the rim of 
which are three active springs. Two of these are mud 
springs, with basins ten to twenty feet in diameter. 
The other is a geyser ; and when not in action, the 
water is clear. At certain seasons it will play several 
times a day, throwing mud and water to the height of 
fifty feet. The action is singular, and may be described 
as follows : The pool gradually fills with water till 
the diameter reaches nearly one hundred feet; at 
this time a wave three feet in height runs from the cen- 
tre and dies away, followed by three similar ones. 
Then, with a dull, heavy roar, a column of mud and 
water is thrown out to the height of thirty or forty 
feet and flows for about fifteen minutes, when all is 
quiet again, and the pool contracts to a small radius ; 
the black rings of mud formed during the eruption 
in the pool disappear. In a short space of time the 
pool again begins to fill, and continues to do so till 



136 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

the next eruption. The eruptions take place about 
every three hours and fifteen minutes. 

On the other side of the river, right on the bank, 
are some mud springs, in which the mud is light yel- 
low, from the large quantities of sulphur mixed with 
it. The water coming from the springs is strongly 
impregnated with alum and iron. 

After leaving the Giant's Caldron the road climbs 
the hill to the northward, and from the summit a 
grand panorama is spread out before you. At your 
feet the river flows smoothly along without a ripple, 
and on either hand are grassy hills studded with small 
evergreen trees. In the distance the higher moun- 
tains, their summits with sides of a dark-green color, 
stand out in bold relief against the clear sky. To 
the south the shore of the glimmering lake is clear- 
ly visible at times, and the rounded summit of the 
Elephant's Ba'ck forms a background to the westward. 
A most singular feature of the Yellowstone region is 
this beautiful park, that seems to have been the work 
of a skilful landscape-gardener, and no work of art 
could be more charming. 

Road to Lower Geyser Basin. 
Eight miles from the outlet, in the midst of a small 
collection of mud geysers and springs, or rather a 
little north of this, a road comes in from the west, 
which is the one from the Lower Geyser Basin and 
Mary's Lake. The course taken by the tourist in 
wagons from the Upper Basin is back again to the 
Lower Geyser Basin, and across the prairie through 
the timber, twenty-two and a half miles, to this fork 
in the road. Thus the wagon-trains fail to visit the 
splendid country between the Upper Basin and the 
outlet of the lake. At a glance it will be seen why 
the pack-train is to be preferred in making the tour 
of the Park. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 137 

Sulphur Mountain, Crater Hill or Debris 
Hill. 

Two miles north of the fork of this road, across 
some prairie country, we find a singular accumu- 
lation of debris, variously called Sulphur Mountain, 
Crater Hill and Debris Hill. It is a huge pile of 
rocks and hot-spring deposit, rising up from the level 
of the surrounding prairie to the height of about one 
hundred feet. Around the base is a fringe of trees, 
there being uot a single tree except just at this place 
for many miles. 

The remote view of the hill is peculiar and striking. 
The color of the mound is dirty yellow, from the 
presence of sulphur ; and all over its sides are streaks 
of a white and brown deposit, from the water that has 
trickled down. At present the upper springs are at 
rest, and the action is confined to the lower levels. 

At first sight this pile is uninteresting, and the 
tourist is inclined to ride on with the mere remark : 
"That is a singular hill." But, hitching to a tree, we 
dismount and look at this thing : it is full of interest. 
The road approaches nearest to it at the White Sul- 
phur Spring. The entire hill is composed of siliceous 
deposit, and gives forth a hollow sound as you tramp 
over it. The crust is thin and the mass porous ; so 
that the tourist will have to exercise some little cau- 
tion in walking about, to avoid breaking in and being 
scalded by the steam which issues from myriads of 
little chimneys all over the hill. 

The White Sulphur Spring, on the south side of the 
hill, is singular in its formation. The rim is irregu- 
larly circular, with a diameter of some fifteen feet. 
The edge is scalloped and of a pearly-white lustre and 
a beaded structure. The margin is shelving, extend- 
ing out over the surface of the pool several feet, like 
the ice about an air-hole in a river ; and it behooves 
the tourist to look to it that he does not get too close, 
for the pool is boiling hot and the water many yards 
deep. Hayden says of the pool : " No kind of em- 



138 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

broidering that human art can conceive or fashion 
could equal this specimen of the cunning skill of 
Nature." At present there is no geyser among these 
springs, but there must have been at some time, — in- 
deed, this whole formation is undoubtedly the result 
of geyser action in the past. 

In one place there is a vent sending out a column 
of steam so hot and sulphurous that it is difficult to 
approach it, and by its side, not two feet off, there is 
a large deep spring boiling at a most furious rate. 
In another place is a " turbid spring " with a basin 
twenty feet in diameter. This is really a mud-pot. The 
consistence of its contents is like that of thick mush, 
the whole being of a yellow color and resembling the 
"hasty-pudding" of colonial times. The mass is just 
of the proper consistency to form a series of rings when 
the mud covering a bubble of steam bursts. Through- 
out the Park there are many mud-pots, but each has 
an action and interest peculiar to itself. In this same 
region is a basin of mud of a rich lavender-color, boil- 
ing and sputtering away vigorously. 

A most remarkable feature about these mud springs 
is that the source of supply for the moisture which 
keeps them in a semi-fluid state is not apparent, there 
being no visible flow of water : yet the springs are 
boiling hot. 

In the group of curiosities to the north of the White 
Sulphur Spring is a chimney emitting a column of 
steam by impulsive jets, like the escape-pipe of some 
huge engine, and accompanied by a sound that may 
be heard for a long distance. This is called " Loco- 
motive Jet." All over the hill are springs of sulphur, 
some yellow, others white ; some red, from iron, some 
containing a strong solution of alum; and at every 
step are crevasses and small round holes looking like 
squirrel-burrows, liued with most beautiful crystals of 
sulphur or brimstone as fine as a needle and fragile as 
glass. But we cannot stop to examine each one, though 
the tourist will do well to devote much attention to them. 



yellowstone national park. 139 

Alum Ceeek. 

About a mile and a half farther on we cross the 

small creek flowing from the westward known as Alum 

Creek. The water is clear and beautiful, but strong 

with alum. On each side of the stream is rich meadow. 

Violet Springs. 
Following up Alum Creek about four miles, we 
come to Violet Springs, a collection of springs in a 
small geyser-basin, where the hues of the violet pre- 
dominate, giving rise to the name. 

Upper Falls of the Yellowstone Kiver. 
The river at the mouth of Alum Creek flows along 
smoothly in its bed, a clear, deep stream of emerald- 
tinted water, placid and serene, giving no indication 
of the tremendous violence with which in a few miles 
it hurls itself over the rocks down a terrible abyss. A 
little before reaching Alum Springs the road abruptly 
terminates at the river, and a faint trail to the left is 
the one you take, which leads to the falls. 

Fourteen miles of prairie and woodland have been 
traversed since we left the camp at the outlet of the 
lake. Now the path becomes more rugged, and we 
ride along the river-bank on high bluffs winding in 
and out among the trees in a circuitous manner, fol- 
lowing all the while a well-beaten trail. Here the 
bed of the river grows narrow and the smooth, placid 
sheet of water gives place to a more hurried cur- 
rent, broken by a succession of ripples and dashing 
along among the boulders at a rapid rate. The view 
of this changed condition of the river from the jut- 
ting point on which we stand is very fine, and # at the 
lone pine tree by the bank, where the deadened grass 
indicates the halt of the tourist, is the spot at which 
you dismount to observe it. 

A short distance down the river, we turn to the 
right, climb a steep trail, rein up the pony- on the jut- 
ting buttress of the Upper Falls and clamber out on 



140 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

the rocks to look down into the gorge below. The 
river is contracted just as it plunges over the falls to 
a width of one hundred feet, and, lookiug up the river, 
we see that the walls of the canon are not high, but 
composed of massive basaltic rocks. The country- 
above as a rule is prairie, but in the stream are some 
huge blocks of basalt, which fact indicates the force with 
which the river has cut its way. Just above the crest 
of the fall are two cascades, thirty feet high. At the 
fall the mass of water is collected into a narrow 
volume and hurled off the edge of a precipice one 
hundred and fifty feet high with all the force it has 
accumulated in the rapids above, and, unlike a great 
river tumbling leisurely over the brink, it is shot 
far out from the edge and falls with a mighty plunge 
and roar into the chasm below. In striking the bos- 
om of the pool the waters are depressed by the con- 
cussion, and a most singular appearance is the result. 
The force is so tremendous that the descending water 
ploughs through the bosom of the pool for over two 
hundred feet, throwing up a furrow of snowy foam the 
entire distance. From the sides of the descending 
sheet of water arises a column of spray and mist, and as 
we stand viewing the spectacle in the evening light, 
when the fall itself is wrapped in shadow and a sombre 
background is thus produced, while the slanting rays 
of light strike the walls of the canon, a halo of 
most superb beauty encircles the brow of the falling 
water — a most enchanting specticle. The rainbow is visi- 
ble on some part of these falls almost any time of day. 
A curious circumstance about the Upper Fall is 
that it makes a turn to the right just as it plunges 
over the cliff, so that, as you come out on the point, the 
river seems to be falling away from you. On the other 
side of the point of observation, away from the falls to 
the north, you look down into the yawning chasm, a 
deep depression or basin cut out of the basaltic rocks 
that tower up above it with almost perpendicular walls 
many hundred feet, and at its base lies the rushing 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 141 

flood, recovering from the precipitous fall and gather- 
ing itself together again into a river, only to hurl 
itself over a more fearful precipice a few rods farther 
on. 

On the eastern side of the canon, where the spray 
falls heavily, a luxuriant growth of vegetation has 
sprung up and clothed the bare rocks with a rich 
green velvet of grass, while here and there an ever- 
green tree has taken root and clings to the wall for 
its life. 

While the river is running along over its flat rocky 
bed to the Lower Falls, or Great Falls, we will return 
to the trail and climb to the top of the canon on our 
sturdy little cay use. 

Grotto Pool, Crystal Cascade and Cascade 
Creek. 

Now riding up a steep ascent, now descending rapidly 
over a trail that only a cayuse or his sure-footed com- 
panion the mule could safely traverse, you reach the 
narrow corduroy bridge spanning a frightful abyss. Be- 
low are Grotto Pool and Cascade Creek. Here, cross- 
ing to the north side of the ravine, you tie your horse 
and descend by some rude ladders to the bottom of 
the grotto, over fifty feet in depth, at the surface of the 
pool, and, walking along a narrow ledge that has been 
cut out by the water in the solid rock, you meet the 
descending current of a cascade some sixty feet in 
height, plunging into the pool from the south side, and 
through the mist and foam you look down upon a 
large basin of dark water deep among the rocks, 
clear and transparent, and curling in eddies as it 
flows toward the narrow gorge through which it forces 
itself out, running on with a low, merry murmur, 
and then plunging over the rocks in a series of steps 
several hundred feet to the Yellowstone River — a 
most charming little cascade, but generally over- 
looked by the tourist, who is naturally more inter- 
ested to see the Great Falls, beyond. 



142 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

Lower, or Great, Falls. 
Following the trail about one-quarter of a mile into 
the timber, and keeping close to the little stream that 
comes in from the west, we come to a fine lawn of rich 
grass, where we camp, and, retracing our steps, " do " 
the falls and the canon. Taking the path and scram- 
bling by means of the "alpenstock" (which each 
tourist who understands the use of one should procure), 
we climb down, down, down the side of the sloping 
canon to the crest of the Great Falls, and, seated 
upon a jutting crag, look for an instant down the vast 
sheet of water pouring with thundering roar over the 
cliff into the invisible abyss below with shrieks and 
cries as of the unhappy spirits in torment. Nothing 
can aptly be compared with the sights and sounds that 
meet us at this point. The look is only momentary, 
for instantly a dizziness fills the senses, and we are 
admonished to retreat from the brink to avoid the al- 
most irresistible impulse of pitching ourselves over 
the chasm. Yet so strong is the desire to look over 
the fall that the tourist will often crawl out to the 
edge on hands and knees to get a look into that awful 
abyss below. Here, and here alone, can be appre- 
ciated the true magnitude of the fall. 

Lookout Point. 
Returning to the main trail again, we follow down 
to a point where a branch leads to the left to the 
camp, another to the right across a small bridge, 
and thence up to Lookout Point. Climbing out on 
a jutting pinnacle, we are in full view 7 of the falls. 
It is a subject of much regret to many tourists 
that a nearer view of the falls cannot be obtained, 
as the distance is somewhat great, and, in this case, 
so far as the falls is concerned, lends no enchant- 
ment. Yet far be it from me to convey the impression 
that the foils are anything but grand, even when seen 
at this distance. Indeed, the view from Lookout 
Point is one which subdues the soul and awes the 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



143 



spirit of man into silent contemplation. The critic 
who has studied Moran's paintiug of this scene in the 
Corcoran Gallery at Washington, and has blamed the 
painter for the too profuse use of gorgeous pigments 




GRAND CANON OF YELLOWSTONE RIVER, BELOW THE 
GREAT FALLS. 

upon his canvas, will here exclaim that the half has 
not been shown. 

It is extremely difficult to give anything like an 
adequate description of this place. The distance from 
the crest of the fall, which is two hundred feet in 



144 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

width, to the level of the river below, is three hundred 
and sixty feet straight down ; and the water, gathered 
into a contact mass, is shot over the brink, and before 
it reaches the bottom is broken into a huge column of 
spray ; the mist, arising, obscures the foot of the fall, 
so that but two-thirds of the sheet of water is visible. 
With a deep-toned thunder the vast column of water 
plunges into a basin of exquisite grandeur below. The 
roar of this cataract may be heard for many miles, 
like the noise of the muttering storm. Nearly two 
thousand feet below us the scattered waters gather 
themselves into a river that with many a ripple and 
fold appears like an emerald ribbon as it glides along 
at the foot of the canon. 

The sight of this fall inspires in the tourist all the 
poetry of which his nature is capable, and he will in 
some w r ay or other give vent to his pent-up feelings. 
Such was the effect produced upon our countrywoman 
upon beholding Niagara that she says : 

" Flow on for ever in thy glorious robe 
Of terror and of beauty ! Yea, flow on, 
Unfathomed and resistless. God has set 
His rainbow on thy forehead, and His cloud 
Mantles around thy feet. And He doth give 
Thy voice of thunder power to speak of Him 
Eternally, bidding the lips of man 
Keep silence, and upon thy rocky altar pour 
Incense of awestruck praise. 

" Ah ! who can dare 
To lift the insect-trump of earthly hope, 
Or love, or sorrow, 'mid the peal sublime 
Of thy tremendous hymn? Even Ocean shrinks 
Back from thy brotherhood, and all his waves 
Ketire abashed. For he doth sometimes seem 
To sleep like a spent laborer, and recalls 
His wearied billows from their vexing play, 
And lulls them to a cradle calm ; but thou, 
With everlasting, undecaying tides, 
Dost rest not, night or day. 

" Every leaf 
That lifts itself within thy wide domain 
Doth gather greenness from thy living spray, 
Yet trembles at the baptism. Lo ! yon birds 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 145 

Do boldly venture near, and bathe their wings 
Amid thy mist and foam. 'Tis meet for them 
To touch thy garment's hem, and lightly stir 
The sunny leaflets of thy vapor-wreath, 
For they may sport unharmed amid the cloud, 
Or listen at the echoing gate of heaven 
Without reproof. But, as for us, it seems 
Scarce lawful, with our broken tones, to speak 
Familiarly of thee. Methinks to tint 
Thy glorious features with our pencil's point, 
Or woo thee to the tablet of a song, 
Were profanation." 

Mrs. Sigotjtrney. 

How much more truly this may be said of the Yel- 
lowstone Falls the tourist will judge for himself. 

Down there, in the foreground, stands a jagged point 
of blood-red rocks, with the shattered pines clinging 
to its sides with the grasp of despair, shuddering at 
the prospect of a fall into such a terrible chasm. Far 
down below this still is a cliff several hundred feet m 
height above the foaming water, and sloping away to 
the rear is the brow of the canon, with many-colored 
streaks along its sides. On the east bank the verdure, 
in one broad velvet curtain of drapery, has reached 
down to the very surface of the river. 

Such was the desire to linger created by this imposing 
sight that the rising moon found us wrapped in our 
thick overcoats, huddled about on the rocks, watching 
the descending moonbeam as it stole over the land- 
scape. Now on the crest of the fall, now creeping 
slowly and silently down the sheet of silver water, 
down, down it goes, lighting up first one jutting crag, 
then another, till all is aglow with a pale silver light. 
The scene is truly sublime, and it was far into the 
night before we sought the genial warmth of the camp- 
fire and dreamed of the roaring cataract which sound- 
ed in our ears. 

Grand Canon of the Yellowstone Eivee. 

Again, in the morning, we return to the sight, and 
turn the glance northward down the river into the 
Grand Canon. Nowhere in all this land of wonder is 

10 



146 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

there a spot where a view of such magnificent extent 
is coupled with such gorgeous coloring. So grand a 
prospect is here opened out before the eye that it be- 
comes weary with looking. The sides of the canon, 
unlike the dark rocks that we might expect in such a 
region, are of delicate shades of all the colors, tinted 
and blended with the most perfect harmony, and could 
in no way be improved upon even by the most skilful 
artist. The base-color is a bright yellow mingled with 
the lighter tints of brown, and in many places a wide 
streak of white sand comes into the picture ; while on 
the summit or along the side of the canon is a coping 
or border of delicate pink. In other places the rich 
dark-green foliage of the forest trees is seen in clustered 
masses on the sloping sides, and from the precipitous 
walls numerous pinnacles and towers jut far out and 
stand like mighty sentinels watching the scene below. 
On yonder narrow pinnacle the eaglet in its eyry 
shrieks with plaintive cry, and the parent-birds with 
widespread pinions hover in widening circles far out 
over the river and up into the azure above, echoing 
back the cries of their young. Far below us, like a 
narrow ribbon of emerald green interlaced among the 
rocks and cliff's, is the Yellowstone River, flowing on 
in a succession of cascades and rapids, in the course 
of which it falls fifteen hundred feet. From the side 
of the canon, on the right, comes in a mountain-stream, 
falling down over the cliff in a considerable body of 
water, which ere it reaches the bottom of the canon is 
entirely dissipated into vapor and falls on the bosom 
of the river as a cloud of airy mist. Amid such scenes 
we might linger for days and never tire of the sight. 
Each turn in the trail brings out a new phase of the 
picture, and all is very gorgeous and real. Every part 
of the scene is deeply impressive, — so much so that 
even with the most exalted anticipation the tourist 
will be agreeably disappointed. But we reluctantly 
hasten on to join the pack. 



yellowstone national park. 147 

Twin Falls. 

Four and a half miles down-stream is the Twin 
Falls, a veil of water two hundred feet high, which 
may be reached by a scramble down from the top of 
the canon. 

But, as we are bound for Mount Washburn, we 
pass Lookout Point and follow the crest of the canon, 
keeping well in the blazed trail for about three miles, 
then turn to the left through the timber and leave the 
cafion for a time, with its roaring and tumbling waters, 
and enter the realm of Silence. Tall spruce and pine 
trees stand on every hand, bright with the many gay- 
colored lichens that cling to their gray trunks, and 
with trailing mosses hanging in short festoons from the 
motionless branches. Noiselessly does the hunter ride 
along over the mossy turf beneath his feet, his trained 
eye ever watchful for the game he may expect to meet 
in this secluded region. Why does he stop his horse 
so quickly and noiselessly? Why did he draw his 
rifle from its holster so quickly and so silently ? Why 
does he crouch for an instant upon his knees and ad- 
vance the muzzle of his gun in that direction ? The 
sharp crack of the Winchester explains it all, and the 
noble monarch of the forest (Cervtis Canadensis, the 
elk or wapiti) bites the dust not fifty yards from the 
path, and our camp is supplied with fresh meat for the 
rest of the journey. 

Now we reach a beautiful little stream flowing 
through a rich grassy park, and at the foot of a hill 
dismount for lunch. But the waters are Mara. We 
have reached Sulphur Creek, near the foot of Mount 
Washburn. From thence the trail leads to the margin 
of a fine level meadow ; and, skirting along the eastern 
side of the meadow for some time, we come to a sign- 
board, and here we take the left-hand road. At this 
point through the openings in the trees, the dome-shaped 
crest of Mount Washburn is visible towering above us. 
Again crossing a broad, flat, prairie-like meadow, ap- 
proaching the mountain from the southward, we pass 



148 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

to the right of a dead tree standing alone, and keep on 
through a small park beyond. Here two trails will 
be met, one going straight on, leading to and into the 
forest ; that is well beaten and should be avoided, as it 
will take the traveller into a bewildering thicket: it 
is an old game-trail. The other and fainter one leads 
to the left, and is the proper trail to follow. 

After passing a small stream, by the side of which 
we journey for a time, the trail again strikes into a 
park and is lost. From the farther end of this park 
two trails go out, one following the blazes on the trees 
beside which it passes : this should be avoided unless 
a signboard indicates that it is finished. It was a dim 
intimation of a road in the summer of 1882, and lost 
the tourist if he was not careful to leave it " severely 
alone." The superintendent was then making a road 
in this direction, but it may not yet have been com- 
pleted. The left-hand trail is the one to take, and 
the tourist should keep well up on the hillside. 
By so doing he crosses the eastern end of Mount 
Washburn at a low grade. 

Just at the summit of the divide we come to a 
cleared spot in the forest, and can look out on the 
valley of the Yellowstone, beyond ; but, as we have a 
much finer view of the country from the top of Mount 
Washburn, we will defer the description till reaching 
that point. 

Passing just over the summit of the eastern end, we 
find a trail leading to the left, which brings the tour- 
ist by a very easy grade to the top of the mountain. 
It is so gentle in ascent that the traveller may ride his 
pony to the very summit without the slightest diffi- 
culty. Following the windings of this trail for some 
two miles by a fair road, we reach the top, ten thou- 
sand three hundred and forty feet above sea-level, 
and take a view of the horizon. We are above the 
"timber-line;" so that there is nothing to obstruct 
the view, for the summit is bald save of short grass. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Mount Washburn. 

Resting upon the summit of the mountain, we take 
a view of the entire horizon from an altitude of 
10,340 feet. All round are mountain-peaks jutting 
upward to the sky, and as we sweep our glance over 
the landscape we take in a circle of country extend- 
ing for upwards of one hundred miles in almost every 
direction. Turning to the north, we look down on the 
valley of Tower Creek, in the near foreground ; and 
beyond this is the Grand Canon of the Yellowstone 
River at its junction with the East Fork. Still far- 
ther on is Garnet Hill, and beyond it is the boundary 
of the Park, with the snowy summits of Old Emi- 
grant Peak and its colleagues rising up like mighty 
walls to shut in the view. 

Looking now to the eastward, we come to the 
beautiful rounded hills, with their wooded and grass- 
covered sides, of the valley of Slough Creek (a most 
excellent game region), with Bison Peak on the 
east, risiug to the height of 9036 feet. East of this 
still is Mount Longfellow (9518 feet high), form- 
ing the water-shed between Slough Creek and Soda 
Butte Creek. Now we are in line with the canon of 
Soda Butte Creek, and look on the summit of Ame- 
thyst Mountain (9423 feet), and over the Fossil 
Forest, to the north of Amethyst Mountain. On a 
line directly east is a round summit, densely wooded, 
rising up from the surrounding wilderness of moun- 
tains some 9000 feet ; this is Bison Summit. On its 



150 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

eastern slope passes the trail from Fossil Forest to 
Pelicau Creek and the Yellowstone Lake. 

Looking north-easterly from this point, on the dis- 
taut horizon is a high tapering mountain with its rugged 
edges, Index Peak (9875 feet), and southward of this 
Pilot Knob (10,150 feet), rising from a chaotic mass 
of mountain-summits that bewilder one with looking 
at them, and the tourist of a poetic turn will see in 
fancy the shapes of animals and strange grotesque 
figures in the varied outlines of the distant mountains 
seen on the horizon. 

Looking south-eastward now over Bison Summit, 
the eye rests upon the Labyrinths of Hoodoo, or 
Goblin Mountain (10,700 feet above tide) — a most 
singular collection of fantastic shapes, carved by the 
elements from lava and volcanic rocks, leaving 
stones hundreds of feet above the basin on huge pedes- 
tals. Some resemble camels, others soldiers in military 
uniform ; and almost every conceivable shape may in 
fancy be seen somewhere among these rocks. 

Shifting the glance now a little more to the south, 
outside of the boundary of the Park stands Saddle 
Mountain (11,100 feet in height), while all along the 
south-eastern horizon are the ragged and broken sum- 
mits of the unexplored precipitous mountains of the 
Sierra Shoshone range, visible over the top of Pelican 
Hill (9500 feet in height). 

Southward still are the tops of Mount Chittenden 
(10,190 feet) and Mount Hoyt (10,473 feet), from 
whose side arise the head-waters of the Passamaria or 
Stinking Water River. Now the eve roams over a 
sea of mountain-peaks rising like waves upon the 
ocean, with their summits capped with the eternal 
snow and their bald sides streaked with white and 
green. Among them are the tops of Sulphur Hills ; 
beyond them, Signal Hills, Grizzly Mountain, Mount 
Doane (10,713 feet), Mount Langford (10,779 feet), 
with Mount Stevenson (10,420 feet), in one cluster, 
and Turret Mountain (11,142 feet) and Mount Forum 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 151 

(10,728 feet) in another group, walling in the south- 
east corner of the Park, some forty-five miles distant 
from the observer perched on Mount Washburn. 

We have now reached the meridian, and with it the 
acme of the view. Eighteen miles to the southward, 
over the western sides of Sulphur Hills, we see the 
glimmer of the sunlight upon the ruffled surface of the 
Yellowstone Lake, set like a sparkling gem in the 
midst of the sombre, white-capped mountains with 
which it is surrounded. Away off there on the hori- 
zon is the main range of the Rocky Mountains, and 
beyond the summits of Red Mountain Range, with 
Mount Sheridan rising conspicuously among them. 
Thirty miles to the south-west, on a clear day, the 
towering columns of steam from Old Faithful, the 
Beehive and other geysers may be seen rising like 
beautiful marble shafts toward heaven, as if to sup- 
port the arched dome of azure above them. 

In the foreground of our picture is the deep, many- 
colored cleft in the green carpet of the landscape, the 
Grand Canon of the Yellowstone River; and as we 
gaze down upon the scene we fancy we can hear the 
roar of the Great Falls, eight miles away. At our 
feet is Dunraven Peak (8867 feet), along the western 
side of which passes a trail from the Great Falls to Tower 
Creek. Off on our right, on the west side of the Park, 
are the Quadrate Mountain (10,129 feet), Bell's Peak 
(10,331 feet) and Mount Holmes (10,578 feet), all 
points on the Gallatin Range, in the Park, while in 
the north-west Electric Peak (11,125 feet) guards that 
quarter. East of it are Sepulchre Mountain (9770 feet), 
Terrace Mountain (9000 feet) and Bunsen Peak (9500 
feet), all within a radius of five miles of the Mam- 
moth Hot Springs. So vast is the view over the 
country that it is hard to realize that we stand where 
the whole earth is below us at our feet, and we are on 
the top of the world. 

Descending now from the airy height, we follow the 
trail northward from the forks, at the foot of Mount 



152 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARlt. 

Washburn, for about two miles, where on our right 
we pass, something over a mile from the trail, an old 
ruin, a relic of former dwellers in this mountain-region. 
Here are heaps of stones laid in lines along the side 
of game-trails, formerly used to drive the game over 
the cliffs ; and circles of stone in which to secrete the 
huntsman, evidently not the work of the red Indians 
that now inhabit the country. The people who built 
these remarkable works were mechanics, and had ves- 
sels made of soapstone or steatite. Possibly they were 
the same race of men as dwelt in the cliffs and the 
cafions of Colorado. 

A ride of about three miles brings us to the fork of 
the trail, where the trail over Duuraveu Peak comes 
in from the left and meets the Mount Washburn trail 
near a branch of Antelope Creek. 

Tower Falls. 
After a ride of some six miles from Mount Wash- 
burn over a rolling prairie country we halt at Tower 
Creek. The country over which we ride from Mount 
Washburn is a vast prairie, without a single tree or 
shrub except at the water-courses, and with all the 
speed our ponies can accomplish we push on. Just as 
we reach the vicinity of Tower Creek we drop into a 
deep canon with steep sides covered with trees and 
grass of a uniform growth. Here the trees are not all 
evergreen, but an occasional quaking-asp or aspen is 
met with. The fall we have named is a very singular 
one, from the peculiarity of its surroundings. The 
rock through which the creek has cut its way is of 
very hard, igneous origin and has a shelly structure, 
resembling slag from a furnace. Its extreme hardness 
has resisted the action of the water, and, not being of 
a crumbly nature, the stone holds its own against the 
floods, making the ravines deeper and the towers more 
pointed than are seen in any other place in the Park 
where the same elements have been combating each 
other. Here are two falls, as is the case on the Yel- 




TOWER FALLS. 



154 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

lowstone River — an upper and a lower. The former 
is small, though beautiful, and in almost any other lo- 
cality would attract attention ; here it sinks into ob- 
livion at the side of its grander neighbor. 

The name " Tower Falls " is derived from the two 
huge, slender, tapering towers of basalt that stand at 
the crest of the falls, one on either hand — gigantic 
pillars like the door-posts of an ancient temple, rising 
more than fifty feet above the brow of the fall and 
continuing down to the foot, with the doorway hidden 
by an ever-moving curtain of translucent white, hiding 
the dark portal. Back from these two towers, extend- 
ing up the stream, are hundreds of similar pinnacles 
of a less size and varying height, resembling the 
minarets of a cathedral gray and sombre with age. 
Making a sharp angle, the creek, in a concentric form, 
leaps over the verge down to the depth of one hundred 
and fifty-six feet into the circular pool below without 
a single irregularity, falling almost straight. It 
plunges into the chasm with a mighty roar, which 
seems deep and hollow as the sound reverberates up 
through the narrow gorge into which we gaze. 

Devil's Den. 

The sides of this canon are absolutely perpendicular 
in some places, and the weird appearance of the glen 
has given it the name of Devil's Den. On one side 
rise the bare rocks, on the other a few pine trees have 
taken root. The fall is about two hundred yards 
above the mouth of the creek, and by following the 
trail down on the south-east side of the creek to the 
rim the brow of the falls may be reached after a some- 
what difficult scramble over the rocks and timber. No 
tourist should fail to view it from this point, since when 
thus viewed it is by all odds the most peculiar fall in the 
Park. Approaching up the canon from below, you see 
the edge of the sheet of water, as it were, a thick white 
band extending with a graceful arch from the crest of 
the fall to the pool below, and springing out from the 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 155 

basaltic rocks at a single bound. The eastern wall of 
this glen is of a bright-green color, from the fresh 
mosses and lichens that, nourished by the spray., cling 
to the cold gray rocks and confer upon them not a 
little beauty. The cloud of mist and spray is such 
that it is impossible to approach within two hundred 
feet of the fall without being drenched with water. 
With a slanting sun upon the cloud of mist a fine 
rainbow is seen, which, playing at the brow of the 
column and backed by the sombre tints of the rocks, 
has a very fine effect. 

Some writers and tourists speak of the Tower Falls 
as being finer than the Great Falls, or Lower Falls of 
the Yellowstone River ; but, while we appreciate the 
beauty of Tower Falls, we cannot allow it a place 
alongside that majestic view of the Lower Falls of 
the Yellowstone : there is no comparison. 

All about the camping-place is an abundance of 
" hoppers ;" and it is a trite saying in that region that 
every hopper caught is equivalent to a trout landed, 
so plentiful and voracious are the fish in the Yellow- 
stone River at the mouth of Tower Creek. The creek 
itself is very beautiful, apart from the fall ; for it is a 
wild, turbulent mountain-stream tumbling over high 
boulders and with banks fringed with deciduous as 
well as evergreen trees. 

Hot Speings Creek. 
About four miles up from the mouth of Tower 
Creek, on the west bank of the Yellowstone, is Hot 
Springs Creek, so named from a number of hot 
springs which send forth their boiling water in small 
streams that ooze and boil up through a soft mud 
of a peculiar appearance, emitting a strong odor 
of sulphuretted hydrogen — so strong that the silver 
watches of the tourists will very markedly indicate 
its presence. In certain places are basins which seem 
to be the craters of active springs, full of water cov- 
ered with a thick blackish scum on the surface; 



156 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

and all about on the ground free sulphur may be 
seen. 

Opposite the mouth of Tower Creek, on the east 
side of the river, the mountains, or rather the walls 
of the canon, rise with a regular succession of steps of 
immense height, composed of various deposits of 
basalt and breccia which from time to time in past 
geological epochs have been laid down. At times the 
basalt has poured out and covered the surface to a 
depth of many scores of feet, and upon this a 
layer of softer volcanic rock has been deposited. 
Thus has the pile been built up, and in the periods 
of erosion the harder basalt has resisted the action 
longest, while the softer part has gone first, leaving the 
gigantic steps as monuments to some powerful action to 
which the whole region has been subjected. Since the 
period of erosion hot springs have burst forth along 
the sides of these steps ; and, while some have run 
their course and expired, others remain still active. 
The effect produced by a white or whitish substance 
deposited from the hot springs upon the black ba- 
saltic columns or lying at their base is very marked, 
and renders the region very attractive to the eye. 
It is a subject of frequent remark that throughout 
the Park there is a fine display of gorgeous color- 
ing to be met with on every hand. 

Barronett's Bridge. 
Leaving now the Tower Falls by a singularly steep 
road (which appears to terminate at the little bridge 
on which we cross), and, travelling on over a rolling 
country within half a mile of the canon of the Yellow- 
stone for about three miles, we come to Jack's Bridge, 
or, as some call it, Barronett's Bridge — a point of de- 
parture for those going to " Fossil Forest," Specimen 
Mountain, or Amethyst Mountain, and Cooke City. 
The bridge was built by "Jack" Barrouett and his col- 
leagues in order to get to the rich mines of silver and 
gold at the head of Clarke's Fork of the Yellow- 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 157 

stone River, some thirty-five miles eastward of the 
bridge. 

The bridge is in itself remarkable, being a well- 
constructed frame structure built of hewn timber, 
that has been put together with but few nails or 




j : a k ko n i:tj s u i: i dg k. 



iron parts. There it stands, spanning a deep and 
rapid current, in the midst of which a crib-work pier 
has been built, filled with stones. The materials for 
the building of this bridge, save the timber, were 
packed for more than one hundred miles on the backs 
of animals, and were put together by rude miners un- 
familiar with civil engineering. 

The tourist at Jack's Bridge will pay the "two 
bits " toll again to the solitary toll-keeper, who spends 
his time at the lonely spot in the shelter of a " Sibley " 
tent, with no companion save a dog and his book, and 
with no conversation except an occasional chat with 
the passing traveller. This man — " Billy " — is a re- 
markable instance of the pertinacity with which some 
men cling to life. By the accidental discharge of a 
blast of Giant Powder in a coal-mine in which he was 
working, numerous particles of rock and a piece of his 
felt hat were blown through his forehead and into the 



158 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

fore part of his brain, and during the long illness that 
followed pieces of the bony tables of the skull came 
away ; yet that man recovered, and is now in apparent 
health of both body and mind — a most remarkable 
case, and one the parallel of which has never been 
met. The complete record of this case may be found 
in the medical archives of Fort Ellis. 

Looking south from the bridge, we see the steep 
walls of the Grand Caiion of the Yellowstone River, 
and to the east stands Junction Butte River. Over 
the river and up the steep climb along the rocky 
wall of the cliff, by the wagon-road to Cooke City, 
cut by the enterprising miners, we reach the top, 
and thence, passing to the north of Junction Butte, 
we follow the good road along the east fork of 
the Yellowstone River through a fine park region of 
country for five miles, when we reach the north end 
of Specimen Ridge, so named on account of the abun- 
dance of fine specimens of agatized wood and chalced- 
ony found all along its sides. The third stream that 
is crossed after leaving the bridge is Amethyst Creek, 
along the banks of which rare specimens are found ; 
and, following up the creek, we come to a point where 
the creek falls over a perpendicular wall of rock in a 
beautiful little cascade named Fairies' Fall — another 
" Fairies' Fall." (It would seem that the early ex- 
plorers of the Park were " one-idea men," and every 
object they saw received the same name.) Higher on 
the mountain the creek has cut through the basaltic 
rock and left high walls, with perpendicular sides, 
standing in long rows of massive columns, which have 
been scratched and carved by the ice-fields of bygone 
ages. 

Fossil Forests. 

To the south-east of Amethyst Creek are the Fossil 
Forests. The sobriquet is rather an extravagant one for 
aught the tourist will see of a petrified forest, yet he 
will find the petrified remains of many a goodly tree 
standing as a riven shaft upon the side-hills, and by 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 159 

digging in the ground he will find roots and buried 
trunks of the fallen trees, now turned to agate and 
beautifully marked with the grain of the wood. In 
the cracks and crevices crystals of amethyst and quartz 
will be found studding the sides. 

Here the inquiring mind will be brought to a pause. 
Over there, on a little hill not fifty yards away, is a 
grove of evergreen trees growing luxuriantly, the 
wood soft, springy and in every respect sound and 
healthy, the trunks some nine inches in diameter ; 
here at our feet and reaching up above our heads 
are the petrified remains of a tree that had grown 
where it stands — how long ago? How did it come to 
be a petrifaction ? Has the whole surface been sub- 
merged beneath some vast sheet of water charged with 
silica and lime, above the height of this tree, so that 
the cells of its tissues have filled with stone ? Can it 
be possible that these trees, standing as they do over 
eight thousand eight hundred feet above the sea, were 
ever under water for such a length of time that they 
have petrified ? or have they been turned into stone 
by being covered by beds of lava from some mighty 
volcano that has poured out its melted masses away 
back in that era when the " morning stars sang," 
and when " the earth was fresh and young, and the 
deluge still had left it green"? When or how this 
occurred we shall never know ; yet it is interesting to 
examine these monuments to the mighty work of the 
Creator. 

Amethyst Mountain. 

At the foot of the Fossil Forests the road branches, 
the left-hand division or road proper going to Cooke 
City and Clarke's Fork River, the right-hand one, or 
trail, leading up along the river past Amethyst Moun- 
tain, Bison Summit, and thence on to Pelican Hill, 
Pelican Creek and the Yellowstone Lake. 

Amethyst Mountain is so called on account of the 
specimens of light-purple amethysts that are to be 



160 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



found on its sides. It rises to a height of nine thou- 
sand four hundred and twenty-three feet, and has a 
commanding view. From this point we can see 
Mount Norris in the near view, and off on the horizon 
Index Peak and Pilot Knob, covered with snow. 




CHAPTER XVII. 



Soda Butte Spring. 



Returning to the forks of the road at Fossil For- 
ests, we take the wagon-road, and about a mile distant 
ford the " East Fork " of the Yellowstone River. Cross- 
ing a flat, grassy meadow — the horse-ranche for the 
Clarke's Fork miners — about one mile farther we reach 
the cabin of" Old Jumps," the gamekeeper. Here we 
find a trail leading to the right, toward the south, which 
leads off along the "East Fork" to the Labyrinths of 
Hoodoo Mountains by a long and circuitous route. 

Turning to the left after taking the road, we soon 
cross Soda Butte Creek, and we are within sight of the 
Soda Butte, fourteen miles from the bridge — a singu- 
lar cylindrical pillar or chimney of geyserite, the cone 
or crater of an extinct geyser or hot spring, which has 
been built up from the deposit of this mineral to the 
height of some twenty-five feet, with a broad base 
spread over the plain. There is no evidence of ac- 
tivity about this crater of the chimney, but at the foot 
are several very singular springs. In them the water 
is clear and transparent, and the sides of the pool 
have a deep leaden hue and taper toward the bottom, 
filled, for a good part of the way, with a light, floc- 
culent mineral of a black color, through which the 
water bubbles up, charged with carbonic acid and spark- 
ling in the glass like champagne. The taste is very 
peculiar and at first repulsive and disagreeable, as the 
water contains a mixture of sulphur, soda and other 
minerals of which iron is a constituent; and altogether 
it is a curious concoction. Yet the appetite for it is soon 
acquired, and the miners who are accustomed to it§ 
Ii 161 



162 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

use prefer it to whiskey or beer ; and every pack or 
wagon-train to or from the mines takes a cask of this 
water along. The resemblance of this water to the 
soda-water of the shops, and the singular " butte " of 
pillars of geyserite, have given origin to the name of 
this spring. 

Trout Lake. 
About a mile or so above Soda Butte Springs, on 
the left, a fork from the road leads to a little lake 
surrounded by grassy banks and lying in a deep de- 
pression in the hillside, with a small stream of snow- 
water flowing into it at the north side and a trickling 
outlet at the south side. This is Trout Lake, and 
covers a surface of perhaps five acres. To all intents 
and purposes apparently, this is one of those snow-fed 
basins filled with clear water so frequently met with in 
the Park, bereft of all animal life save that of animal- 
cules. But here is another wonder: this lake is literally 
swarming with fine large trout weighing upward of a 
pound each, so abundant that they may be scooped 
out in large numbers with a net, and always in fine 
condition, none ever having been found to be wormy. 
The "boys" from the camp at Cooke City in the spring 
of the year catch hundreds of pounds of these fish by 
putting a log across the inlet and turning the water 
out of the channel, and the fish that come up to 
spawn are left high and dry below, and are then 
picked up. Now, a singular circumstance connected 
with this story is that, although this little lake is so 
full of fish and empties into the Soda Butte Creek, 
there is not a single fish in that stream, from its head- 
waters to its mouth, yet the water is sweet and pure. The 
question why this is so has nonplussed more than one sa- 
gacious man. Duck and other water-fowl will be found 
along the Soda Butte Creek, if the fish are wanting. 

Clarke's Fork Mines and Cooke City. 
Those who wish to visit a genuine frontier mining- 
camp will find much to interest them at the head of 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 163 

Clarke's Fork River, at Cooke City, an enterprise started 
by Mr. Jay Cooke, Mr. Frank Thomson, Dr. S. Weir 
Mitchell and other enterprising Philadelphians to wrest 
the precious metals from the grasp of the cold gray 
volcanic rock that holds them. Some of the mines 
are very rich, and an active business is doing at the 
smelting and other establishments in the camp. 

The road to Cooke City leads along by the foot of tow- 
ering cliffs of igneous and sedimentary rocks, and one 
single band of limestone stretches along the road all the 
way from Soda Butte Spring. Standing at a great 
elevation above the road on the mountain's side, itself 
three hundred feet in thickness, it shows by its posi- 
tion on both sides of the canon that the present valley 
has been cut out through it by the creek. On the 
sides of the canon, above the limestone, immense slides 
of debris will be seen, the effect of the elements upon 
the loose basaltic rocks above, from which it has slid 
down. 

Sentinel of the Canon. 

In one place the colossal statue of a soldier wrapped 
in his overcoat, with arms folded across his breast, will 
be seen — a most natural likeness. 

Should the tourist meet a black bear in the way — 
which is very unlikely at this late day — he should 
ride right along, as " Bruin " will not disturb him if 
left alone. Those of a scientific turn of mind will 
thoroughly enjoy the ride up the canon of Soda Butte 
Creek, and the inspection of the mines in the vicinity 
of Clarke's Fork will not be without interest. 

Index Peak and the Valley of Clarke's Fork 
River. 
About two miles above the smelter at Cooke City, 
by a most abruptly rugged and rocky path, the tourist 
may climb to the summit of Index Peak, nine thousand 
eight hundred and seventy-five feet above the level of 
the sea, and look down upon a picturesque valley spread 
out at his feet, stretching away to the eastward, dotted 



164 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

with lakes of clear ice-cold water without a single fish 
in them, and some of them with an area of many miles. 
They are walled in by the same cliff of limestone before 
mentioned, three hundred feet in thickness. Stretch- 
ing away till it is lost in the horizon, it appears like the 
embankment for a railroad, so level is its grade. Cap- 
ping the limestone are huge piles of metamorphic 
rocks, carved and jagged in outline, a perfect chaos. 
In these gray sides are streaks of metal-bearing rocks, 
from whence come the gold and silver. 

Here, among the rugged rocks, we find the Rocky 
Mountain sheep, or Big-horn sheep, or Rocky Moun- 
tain goat, as he is sometimes called, travelling in bauds 
up the jagged crest of a mountain, along the ridge and 
down another, always keeping on the highest possible 
points and feeding on the short rich grass that grows 
on the mountains high among the rocks. (It should 
be noted, however, that the Rocky Mountain sheep, or 
Big-horn proper, is distinct from the so-called Rocky 
Mountain goat, or Aploceras. The latter is a true an- 
telope, closely akin to the chamois.) 

In the high sheltered valleys of Clarke's Fork 
River basin a few specimens of the mountain-bison 
are occasionally found, but they are very rare, and it 
is reported that a small baud of moose lives in these 
inaccessible mountain-fastnesses amid the perpetual 
snows. 

Mountain-Geouse. 

In this region, more abundantly than in any other 
part of the Park, will the sportsman find the fool-hen 
or mountain-grouse, a member of the grouse family 
with most peculiar characteristics, and so entirely de- 
void of fear in the presence of man that it may 
almost be knocked over with a stick ; and, as to stones, 
a flock will rise in a tree when you have flushed them, 
and sit in the most unconcerned manner while you 
hurl stones, till you by accident hit one of them, when 
they will fly out. 

leading the pack through a narrow gorge on 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 165 

Slough Creek, we were startled by a wild scream and 
fluttering noise among the bushes at our feet, accom- 
panied by a hissing as of a goose. Thinking it a 
rattlesnake, or possibly an adder, we threw up the 
reins and drew our rifles, when presently out of the 
brush rushed an old fool-heu with wings scraping on 
the ground and tail spread like that of the turkey- 
cock, and fluttered up to us. Settling down in a 
crouching attitude, we " cut loose at him," and had a 
fine bird for supper. The flesh of these birds is most 
excellent for the table, the meat being white and as 
delicious as that of a spring chicken. The alert 
sportsman travelling through this section of the Park 
will have no difficulty in keeping the larder of the 
party well stocked with a variety of choice meats. 

A good uniformly graded trail extends from Cooke 
City across the divide down Clarke's Fork River to 
Fort Custer, and by way of the river to Young's 
Point, above Billings, on the Northern Pacific Rail- 
road, a course which the tourist may take in enteriug 
or returning from the Park, especially if he has his 
own pack-outfit. 




CHAPTER XVIII. 
Blacktail Meadow and Divide. 

Retracing our steps again down the Soda Butte 
'Creek and east fork of the Yellowstone, we come 
again to Jack's Bridge ; and now, coming out from 
the purer air from the mountains, we detect the 
peculiar sulphur-like odor in the atmosphere. Stop- 
ping to drink at the river, we find it strong with 
sulphur ; for more than three miles above the bridge, 
even to the Tower Falls, the banks of the river are 
honeycombed in places with sulphur springs ; this ac- 
counts for the taste and smell. The water of the 
river at this point is of a fine turquoise blue. 

A sharp little pull up the side of the canon from 
the bridge lands us on the top of the first terrace, 
which is without a tree and covered with short grass. 
Another pull up hill, and we are in the timber, here 
composed mostly of deciduous trees ; and, still climb- 
ing by a steep grade, we near the summit of the 
Blacktail Deer divide, at the foot of the northern 
slope of Mount Stephens. 

Devil's Cut. 

Just as the road reaches the summit it passes along 
the bottom of the " Devil's Cut," as it is called — a 
depression between walls of earth and rock covered 
with grass, and in which a single pine tree is growing. 
This cut extends for some hundred yards, and is the 
remnant of a cleft or fissure between two ledges of up- 
turned rock. 
166 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 167 

The road climbs along the south-western wall of 
this gulch, as we approach the farther end, and finally 
brings us out on to the beautiful expanse of country, 
the Blacktail Meadows. 

Riding over the upland, the tourist will be impressed 
with the curious similarity there is at this point with 
a well-planned landscape-garden. Here is a clump 
of small evergreen trees, there a group of taller 
quaking-asp or aspen trees, their leaves fluttering in 
the breeze. On one hand is a beautiful little lake with 
a surface like a mirror, surrounded with sedges and 
reeds, with the mallard ducks or mud-hens floating 
gracefully on its bosom ; on the other, a rill com- 
ing down from the mountain-side, a clear, icy-cold 
stream skirted by shrubs and bushes ; while off on the 
right, or north, is the canon of the river and the moun- 
tains beyond. In places the jutting edge of a stratum 
of rock breaks through the crust, and here the lichens 
and ferns are found. Altogether, it is a most delight- 
ful country. 

Gently rising on this plateau, the road crosses the 
divide. All along the way the tourist will be more or 
less bewildered by the numerous trails that branch off 
of the road to the right ; most of them come in to the 
road again farther on. There is one, however, that 
leads off northward just as you come to the top of a 
little hill where are a few scattered trees; this leads 
down along Geode Creek, and to and crosses Blacktail 
Deer Creek, thence through dry gulches on the north 
side of Mount Evarts. Crossing a barren alkali plain 
of sage-bush, cactus and prickly pear above McCart- 
ney's ranch, it strikes the Gardiner River, which it 
crosses by a log bridge. This trail branches off about 
six and a half miles from Jack's Bridge. Following 
the wagon-road we continue on to the westward, and 
soon reach and cross the lava-beds, cross the Blacktail 
Deer Creek and turn south-westward, cross the low 
divide and descend toward the east fork of Gardiner 
River. 



168 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

Cascade Falls of East Gardiner River. 

Just about one mile above where the road strikes 
the canon of the east fork, passing a branch that 
comes in from the south, is the Cascade Falls, a sheet 
of water falling over a succession of steps of hard 
basaltic rock, widening as it descends till it finally 
covers the entire space between the rocky walls. 
Bounding into the river, it rushes off in its embrace, 
while the stately pine trees on the sides of the canon 
— silent witnesses to the transaction — nod their assent 
and gracefully bow their pendent branches to the 
passing current. 

The scenery all along this canon is picturesque. On 
the north of us rises Mount Evarts, seven thousand 
six hundred feet high — a pile of basaltic rocks with 
high cliffs in step-like regularity rising from the plain. 
Upon each step the debris has accumulated, slopping 
toward the base of the next higher. 

Gardiner River Falls. 

Following down the canon to the point where the 
road reaches it, we come to the Gardiner River Falls, a 
cascade of rare beauty. Near the west of the falls is a 
grove of pine and quaking-asp trees. No tourist will 
pass this spot unnoticed, for there, at every hand, are 
the inevitable " eyesores " that accompany civilization 
— the empty beer-bottles, tin cans, scraps of paper, etc., 
lying in profusion about on the deadened grass and 
dusty ground. Still, getting over the disgust engen- 
dered by these things, we find a small log bridge cross- 
ing the river, and, standing upon it, have a fine view 
up the stream. There for a long distance we see the 
sparkling and pearly water struggling over boulders 
and dashing against the side walls, splashing against 
trees, bearing down the grass and bushes on the banks, 
ever hurrying on to gather up momentum for a tre- 
mendous leap over the cliff below, down one hundred 
and forty feet, a shattered and broken column. 

Crossing the bridge, we turn to the right and 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 169 

scramble down the steep hillside, holding on to the 
trees till we can see over the edge of the chasm and 
behold the waters in their suicidal leap dashing them- 
selves against the rock with a rage so violent that a 
cloud of white foam rises unceasingly and is carried 
along down through the gorge below. The cliff over 
which the water falls is one of those tremendous steps 
of basaltic rock we have just mentioned. The view 
erf this fall is very picturesque and enchanting, as the 
landscape is broken with rocks, trees, shrubs, high 
rocky cliffs, and, capping all, there is a bright blue 
sky. 

Turning now toward the Mammoth Hot Springs, 
the view is very pleasing. Away off there on that 
" apparently " level plain stands the headquarters 
building, six thousand five hundred feet above the 
sea-level, with the hotel-buildings beyond it. Near that 
little clump of trees, to the left of this, is the snow- 
white mound of the Mammoth Hot Springs, pro- 
truding from between those two hillsides, glittering in 
the afternoon sun, with a column of steam, white and 
spotless, rising from the many springs that boil up to 
the surface. In front of us flows the main stream of 
Gardiner Kiver, with its banks hedged in with long 
rows of trees and shrubs, and falling upon the whole 
is a purple haze, adding a peculiar distance-effect to 
the picture which is very fine. Five miles more down 
the cafion, and we are once more back at Mammoth 
Hot Springs, from whence we started out, having made 
the tour of the " Park." 



CONCLUSION. 

Now, in concluding the account of our trip, there 
are some matters of a general nature that deserve a 
passing notice. 

There are, as the tourist will notice, many points 
laid down on the map which we have not visited. We 
have purposely omitted many points on the east side of 
the lake, such as Signal Hills, Brimstone Basin, Lake 
Butte, Turbid Lake, Convention Cave, Mary's Bay, 
etc., which it is not possible for the tourist at present 
to " do " conveniently. Most of these places have hot- 
spring basins and other matters of interest that are 
worth seeing, but they require more time than the 
average tourist can devote to them ; and a mention of 
them would fill many more pages than we have de- 
voted to the entire work. Many places on the north 
shore of the lake along the valley of Pelican Creek and 
amidst the Sulphur Hills are of interest and are wor- 
thy of description, had we time to spare for them. 
The same is true of the region along the east fork of 
the Yellowstone River and in the Labyrinths of Hoo- 
doo, or Goblin, Mountain. So, too, the entire shore- 
line of the lake might be traversed with pleasure and 
profit, but up to date the path is obstructed and be- 
wildering, and only the most daring adventurer will 
toil his way through the tangled mazes off from the 
beaten road. 

In starting out, tourists should pool their expenses 
and appoint one of their number as treasurer, who 
should settle all bills. Thus they will avoid much 
trouble in the " making up " of cash when any little 
bill is to be settled. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 171 

Good camping-places will be found in the Park 
after leaving the Mammoth Hot Springs, as indicated 
by the "stars "on the map, at Willow Park, Norris 
Geyser Basin, Lower Geyser Basin, Upper Geyser 
Basin (near the Castle Geyser j, West Bay (or Thumb 
of the Yellowstone Lake), outlet of the lake, on the 
little stream near Lookout Point, below the Lower 
Falls of the Yellowstone River, Tower Falls, Barro- 
nett's (Jack's) Bridge and Soda Butte Springs. 

The angler will find good sport in the head-waters 
of the Yellowstone River and Lake, with a few excep- 
tions ; as, for instance, in the Soda Butte Creek, but 
for that disappointment he is easily compensated by 
the abundance of fine fish he will find in Trout Lake, 
near that stream. Almost anywhere on the shore of 
the Yellowstone Lake where the banks are rocky are 
good points for angling, and any place where the ang- 
ler can reach the banks of the Yellowstone River will 
yield him sport. The angling is especially good at 
the mouth of the Tower Creek ; again, at the mouth 
of the east fork of Yellowstone River, at the mouth 
of Blacktail Deer Creek and at the mouth of Gardiner 
River. All the fish, with the exception of a few sickly 
ones in the Yellowstone Lake, are fine ; and I have 
known of specimens being caught that weighed ten 
pounds: this was at Livingston. 

No fish will be found in the Gardiner River above 
its mouth, in the Gibbon River, in the Madison, or 
Firehole, River, nor in the waters or streams of Shoo- 
shoue Lake. 

The tourist will need to carry no arms as protection 
against Indians, or against wild animals other than 
the cinnamon bear. Of these he will rarely meet any; 
so that practically he will require no firearms at all, 
but it is as well to have some description of firearms 
as it affords a feeling of security, which their absence 
will not do. 

Make your marches as early in the day as possible, 
as it is less fatiguing to both man and beast and allows 



172 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

ample time to " rustle up a camp " and enjoy the 
sights before the long twilight (which lasts till after 
nine o'clock in the evening) has closed in. 

Observe carefully that every camp-fire is extin- 
guished before you leave it, and you will not, like 
some of the "army-men," have the mortification of de- 
stroying hundreds of acres of timber and meadow-hay. 

So time your excursion so that you will reach the 
Park between July 1st and September 1st ; but Au- 
gust will be found the most pleasant month. In that 
month the author's trip was made, and no more de- 
lightful weather or other circumstances could be 
wished. There was no rain, except for an hour in 
one afternoon. 

Do not make your parties larger than ten, exclusive 
of the guide and cook, as they are hard to manage ; 
and the guides are generally unwilling to go with a 
greater party. Six is the most pleasant number. 

Take with you heavy, thick, warm clothes and a 
good heavy overcoat, for you will need them before 
the trip is finished. 

Trusting future tourists to the Yellowstone National 
Park may enjoy as pleasant a trip as it was the au- 
thor's privilege to make in August of last year (1882) 
with a choice party of five, and that this little book 
may serve as a valuable aid and companion, and con- 
tribute to the comfort and pleasure of the trip, we 
cease. 

In the preparation of this work I have been much 
assisted by the set of admirable and artistic photo- 
graphs sent me by H. B. Calfee, an expert photog- 
rapher at Bozeman, whom the tourist should see before 
leaving the Park region. 



APPENDICES. 



APPENDIX A. 

Section 1. 
RAILROAD FARES. 

As the tourist will wish to know how much he must spend in 
the way of railroad fares to and from the Park, we append a list 
of prices for first-class tickets from the principal parts in the 
East, which is, of course, subject to a monthly revision. Still, 
it will be approximately correct. The expense of the Pullman 
and Wagner coaches may be set down at three dollars per diem. 
The Northern Pacific Railroad will run dining-room cars from 
St. Paul on all through trains to the Park during the summer 
months, and meals will be served a la carte, with a menu fully 
up to that of the best hotels in the East. 

We make St. Paul and Duluth the initial points for the pres- 
ent, as rates by the Northern Pacific Railroad from the West 
have not been fixed at this moment, and no railroad runs to the 
National Park except this one. 

St. Paul to Yellowstone National Park and return... $90.00 
Duluth " " lt " " ... 90.00 

Chicago " " " " " ...111.00 

Portland, Oregon, to " " "... 

Tacoma, Washington Ty., " " "... 

Helena, Montana Ty., " tl "... 

Bozeman, " " " , " ... 

Akron, O., to St. Paul, or the reverse, single fare ... 24.80 

Albany, N. Y., " 34.15 

Allentown, Pa., " 37.60 

Alliance, O., " 28.58 

Altoona, Pa., " ...31.50 

Amherst, Mass., " 37.60 

Ashtabula, O., " 25.65 

Atchison, Kan., " 18.00 

Athens, Ga., " 40.80 

Augusta, Me., vid Montreal 45.35 

" " " Albany, N. Y., to St. Paul 43.15 

Augusta, Ga., " 41.50 

173 



174 APPENDICES. 

Augusta, Ga., vid Washington, D. C, to St. Paul $63.85 

Baltimore, Md. (according to the 

route selected), " $36.50 to 38.75 

Bangor, Me., vid Montreal or Albany " 47.50 

Baton Rouge, La., " 41.50 

Bellefontaine, O., " 21.90 

Bethlehem, Pa., " 37.70 

Bloomington, 111., to St. Paul, according to route, 

$15.12 to 17.80 
Boston, Mass., " " " $39.15 to 50.00 

Bridgeport, Conn., " " " 39.30 

Buffalo, N. Y., all rail to St. Paul 28.00 

" " bv Lake Superior Transit Company's 

Steamer to Duluth 27.00 

Cape May, N. J. ; to St. Paul 40.25 

Cedar Keys (and return) to St, Paul 73.45 

Cedar Rapids, la., " " 8.90 

Charleston, S. C. (and return), to St. Paul 62.25 

Charlotte, N. C, " " 46.05 

Charlottesville, Va., " " 40.50 

Chatham, N. B., " " 47.85 

Chattanooga, Tenn., " " 33.05 

Chautauqua Lake, N. Y., " " 28.00 

Chicago, 111., to St. Paul (look out for cut rates) 16.00 

Cincinnati, O., to St. Paul, according to route, 

$22.85 to 28.15 

Cleveland, O., " " 24.00 

" by the Lakes to Duluth 23.00 

Columbus, O.. to St. Paul 23.35 

Concord, N. H., to St. Paul, Minn 40.50 

Council Bluffs, la., " " 13.25 

Denver, Col., " " 38.75 

Detroit, Mich., " " 22.00 

" " by the Lakes to Duluth 20.00 

Dubuque, la., to St. Paul, Minn 9.82 

Easton, Pa., " " 37.75 

Elraira, N. Y., " " 31.30 

Erie, Pa., " " 26.75 

" " bv the Lakes to Duluth 25.00 

Frederick, Md., to St. Paul, Minn 36.75 

Galveston, Texas, and return to St. Paul, Minn 67.00 

Halifax, N. S., vid Montreal, " " 53.05 

Harrisburg, Pa., to St. Paul, Minn $35.40 to 36.65 

Havana, Cuba, and return, to St. Paul, Minn 120.00 

Jacksonville, Fla., and return, vid Pittsburg and 

Washington, to St. Paul, Minn 66.95 

Lynchburg, Va., " " $39.95 to 47.50 

Marquette, Midi., " " 18.85 

4< " bv the lake to Duluth 12.00 

Newark, N. J., to St. Paul, Minn 37.25 

New Yoi± N. Y., " " 37.25 



APPENDICES. 175 

New Orleans, La., and return (until June 1, 1883), to 

St. Paul, Minn $49.00 

Norfolk, Va., to St. Paul, Minn 43.00 

Omaha, Neb., " " 13.75 

Ottawa, Can., " " 36.10 

Philadelphia, Pa.," " 38.00 

Portland, Me., " " 41.65 

Providence, R. I., " " 39.15 

Richmond, Va., " " 39.25 

San Francisco, Cal., (vid Omaha), to St. Paid, Minn... 1 13.75 

St. John, N. B., to St. Paul, Minn 51.30 

St. Louis, Mo., " " 818.15 to 25.50 

Victoria, B. C. (vid Omaha), to St. Paul, Minn 133.75 

Washington, D. C, to St. Paul, Minn., according to 

route 136.50 to 43.65 

White Sulphur Springs, West Va., to St. Paul, Minn., 

according to route $34.95 to 48.80 

Section 2. 

EXPENSES. 

A list of expenses is here given for those things which may 
be procured at Bozeman certainly, and possibly at Livingston, 
and does not include incidentals (which the tourist must allow 
for according to his peculiarities 1 . Some of them will be dis- 
posed of on the return, which will lessen the expense; but here 
we give the average as an index of the probable expense. The 
amount of provisions necessary for each individual to carry is 
given, and a multiplication of this amount by the number in 
the party will give the required amount. 

SECTION A.— WAGON-TRIP. 
To make a round trip in a wagon that will carry comfort- 
ably four, or six crowded, and moving slowly with the stuff 
inside, the cost will be : 

Team of horses $300.00 

Harness, new 75.00 

Harness, old 50.00 

Wagon, new $100.00 to 140.00 

Tent $10.00 to 15.00 



Total $580.00 

Provisions per Max for a Trip of Twexty Days. 

20 pounds of flour at 4 } cents per pound $ .90 

10 " loaf sugar at 18 cents per pound 1.80 

10 " bacon 25 " " 2.50 

2 " ground coffee 30 " " 60 

2 " tea 2.00 

Carry forward, $7.80 



176 APPENDICES. 

Brought forward, $7.80 

2 pounds of salt 15 

£ " pepper 20 

1 " baking-powder 55 

J gallon maple syrup 2.00 

1 quart pickles 50 

1 box matches 10 

1 box condensed milk 35 

2 pounds cheese at 25 cents per pound 50 

4 " butter 50 " " 2.00 

1 " soap 10 

1 boxmustard 25 

6 boxes sardines at 25 cents per box 1.50 

3 cans pears 50 " can 1.50 

3 cans peaches 50 " " 1.50 

3 cans turkey 60 " " 1.80 

4 pounds of ham 55 " pound 2.20 

1 sack 25 

1 axe 1.75 

1 frying-pan 50 

1 broiler 65 

1 teapot 50 

2 camp-kettles at $1.25 each 2.50 

2 knives and forks at 25 cents each 50 

2 teaspoons at 5 cents each 10 

1 large spoon 20 

2 tin plates at 10 cents each 20 

2tincups 15 " " 30 

1 pound of fresh meat,* if the tourist be unsuc- 
cessful in hunting 20 

$30.55 

If a guide is considered necessary, which is not the case 
with a wagon-party using this guide-book (and every party 
should have a copy), the sum of from $3.00 to $5.00 per day 
must be added, with cook, if necessary, at $2.00 per day. 
Sometimes the guide will cook — usually not, however. 

The above were- Bozem an prices in 1882, before the Northern 
Pacific Bailroad readied that point; now prices should be 
lower, so that the above is a safe estimate. 



SECTION B.— PACK-TRAIN FROM BOZEMAN, WITH 
GUIDE. 

The expense per man, going from Bozeman by pack-train 



* In regard to fresh meat, it may be remarked that if it is washed 
free from blood at a spring of fresh water, and hung up to dry for 
a few hours, it will keep for weeks without spoiling. 



APPENDICES. 177 

and hiring guide and cook and outfit, except " grub-stake," for 

a twenty days' trip, is as follows:* 

Grub-stake (same as above, less cooking-utensils)... $23.15 

Guide, including packing, per day $5.00 100.00 

Cook, per day, $2.00 40.00 

Pack-animal and saddle, per day, $1.00 20.00 

Riding-animal, saddle and bridle, per day, $1.50... 30.00 

$213.15 

SECTION C— PACK-TRAIN FROM BOZEMAN, WITHOUT 
GUIDE. 

To outfit and do your own cooking, buy your cayuses, ponies, 
and with this guide-book go it alone, the expense would be: 

Grub-stake (as above, Section A) $30.55 

Two cayuses (one to ride, one to pack) 100.00 

Tent 15.00 

Saddle-riding, $1 5.00 ; pack, $6.00 ; rope, $2.00 ; 

bridle, $2.00 25.00 

$170.55 

In all these estimates, it must be remembered that the pony, sad- 
dle, etc., may be sold on the return at nearly their original prices, 
or purchased at the start at a reduced rate from a return party. 

SECTION D.— AS TO PERSONAL NECESSARIES AND 
REQUISITES. 
Two pair of heavy blankets (per pair), from 

$5.00 to $10.00 

Rubber poncho.... 1.50 

Rubber pillow 2.50 

Heavy overcoat (any kind ; duck ones such as 

miners use) that costs 18.00 

Thick-soled shoes 

Cork helmet hat (not absolutely necessarv) 3.00 

Buffalo robef $8.00 to 12.00 

Haupt's Guide-book 1.50 

Perseverance and pluck , pro re nata. 

$48.50 

* Of these items, that of guide and cook will be derivable from the 
number in the party, in getting at the individual expense. If the 
number exceeds ten, special terms must be made. The guide will 
furnish much of the stuff gratis, as tent, saddle, etc., which go with 
the outfit; but in hiring the guide you must stipulate for this and 
for the namber of days you are to be out, and where you are to 
camp each day. Have everything arranged before you start. 

f This will be found most comfortable, and might be duplicated 
without disadvantage. 

12 



178 



APPENDICES. 



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180 APPENDICES. 



APPENDIX C. 

EULES AND KEGULATIONS OF THE YELLOW- 
STONE NATIONAL PAEK. 

Department of the Interior, "I 

Washington, D. C, May 4, 1881. J 

1. The cutting or spoliation of timber within the Park is 
strictly forbidden by law. Also the removing of mineral de- 
posits, natural curiosities or wonders, or the displacement of the 
same from their natural condition. 

2. Permission to use the necessary timber for purposes of fuel 
and such temporary buildings as may be required for shelter 
and like uses, and for the collection of such specimens of 
natural curiosities as can be removed without injury to the 
natural features or beauty of the grounds, must be obtained 
from the superintendent, and must be subject at all times to his 
supervision and contrcl. 

3. Fires shall be kindled only when actually necessary, and 
shall be immediately extinguished when no longer required. 
Under no circumstances must they be left burning when the 
place where they have been kindled shall be vacated by the 
party requiring their use. 

4. Hunting, trapping and fishing, except for purposes of pro- 
curing food for visitors or actual residents, are prohibited by 
law ; and no sales of game or fish taken inside the Park shall 
be made for purposes of profit within its boundaries or else- 
where. 

5. No person will be permitted to reside permanently within 
the Park without permission from the Department of the Inte- 
rior; and any person residing therein, except under lease, as 
provided in section 2475 of the Revised Statutes, shall vacate 
the premises within thirty days after being notified in writing 
so to do by the person in charge, notice to be served upon him 
in person or left at his place of residence. 

6. The sale of intoxicating liqnors is strictly prohibited. 

7. All persons trespassing within the domain of said Park, 
or violating any of the foregoing rules, will be summarily re- 
moved therefrom by the superintendent and his authorized 
employes, who are, by direction of the Secretary of the Interior, 
specially designated to carry into effect all necessary regulations 
for the protection and. preservation of the Park, as required by 
the statute, which expressly provides that the same "shall be 
under the exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior, 
whose duty it shall be to make and publish such rules and regu- 
lations as he shall deem necessary or proper," and who, "gener- 
ally, shall be authorized to take all such measures as shall be 
necessary or proper to fully carry out the object and purposes 
of this act." 



APPENDICES. 181 

Resistance to the authority of the superintendent, or repeti- 
tion of any offence against the foregoing regulations, shall sub- 
ject the outfits of such offenders and all prohibited articles to 
seizure, at the discretion of the superintendent or his assistant 
in charge. 

P. W. NORRIS, 

Superintendent. 
Approved : 

S. J. Kiekwood, 

Secretary. 

The rules of 1881 are still enforced by the present superin- 
tendent, Mr. Conger. 



APPENDIX D. 

LIST OF THE MINERALS AND THEIR LOCALITIES 

AS FOUND BY PROF. IIAYDEX'S ENGINEER 

CORPS IN THE NATIONAL PARK. 

Agate, as pebbles, on the shore of Yellowstone Lake and in the 
bed of the south branch of the east fork of Yellowstone 
River. (Also amethyst on Amethyst Creek and ou the 
side of Mount Washburn.) (Author.) 

Amethyst, at Amethyst Mountain, east fork of Yellowstone 
River. 

Azurite (blue carbonate of copper), from the Peacock mine, 
Cooke City, head of Clarke's Fork River. 

Cakile, as Rhomb spar, valley of Yellowstone River, at Promon- 
tory Point, Yellowstone Lake. Crystals of calcite in vol- 
canic rock at Gardiner River, near Mammoth Hot Springs. 

Chalcedony, pebbles on the shore of Yellowstone Lake ; in 
geodes with agate, opal and quartz on the south branch of the 
east fork of Yellowstone River ; in geodes with quartz and 
calcite near Gardiner River, at the foot of Mount Wash* 
burn. 

Coal (lignite), near Fort Ellis. 

Felspar, or Sanidine, in trachyte in Grand Canon of the Yellow- 
stone River and about Yellowstone Lake. 

Flint (black), on south branch of Yellowstone River. 

Garnets, in hornblende schist, in canon of the Yellowstone River. 

Galena (sulphide of lead), argentiferous, at and about Cooke 
City (Author). 

Geyserite (siliceous sinter), about almost all the geysers and 
hot springs of the National Park (Author). 

Gold, Emigrant Gulch, Yellowstone River, in placer and 
quartz-diggings (Author). 

Halite (common salt), in cold springs or Turbid Lake, near 
Yellowstone Lake (among the camp-outfits). 



182 APPENDICES. 

Hornblende, in gneissic rocks in Yellowstone River Canon ; in 
acicular crystals in trachyte on the summit of Mount 
Washburn, near Great Fall, Yellowstone River, on Mount 
Stephenson ; in a red volcanic rock, with calcite, at 
Promontory Point, Yellowstone Lake. 

Jasper, green variety on south branch of east fork of Yellow- 
stone River. 

Leucite, in volcanic rocks near Yellowstone Lake. 

Malachite (green carbonate copper), with chalcedony, near 
Mount Washburn. 

Opal (wood-opal), at the south-east arm of Yellowstone Lake; 
semi-opal in centre of quartz geodes on the south branch 
of the east fork of Yellowstone River; geyserite in the 
geyser-basin of Firehole River. 

Obsidian (volcanic glass), in the valley of Yellowstone River, in 
chips ; in volcanic rocks in Grand Canon of the Yellow- 
stone; massive in the Obsidian Cliff, in Gardiner River; 
porphyritic, near Madison Lake. 

Pumice, Emigrant Gulch, near Yellowstone Lake. 

Quartz, in geodes, with chalcedony, near Gardiner River, south 
branch of east fork of Yellowstone River ; crystals, near 
Virginia City, Montana. 

Serpentine (compact resinous), west of the Park, near Virginia 
City. 

Silicified wood, at Tower Creek, at the foot of Tower Falls, near 
the Mammoth Hot Springs, on the south-east shore of the 
Yellowstone Lake ; handsome black specimens, with veins 
of blue chalcedony, on the south branch of the east fork 
of Yellowstone River. 

Silver, in galena, with lead, at the mines of Cooke City, head of 
Clarke Fork River, New World Mining District. 

Spherulite, at the Grand Canon of the Yellowstone River, at the 

south end of Yellowstone Lake. 
Sulphur, at Mammoth Hot Springs, at Tower Creek, at foot of 
Mount Washburn, at Sulphur Mountain (Crater Hills) ; in 
beautiful crystals, on east fork of Madison River and iii 
many other places. 

Fossils 

Of deciduous tree-leaves, on the backbone of the continent, 
near Two-Ocean Pond. 



APPENDIX E. 

Table of distances and elevations of some of the principal 
objects of interest and camping-points, the Mammoth Hot 
Springs being the initial point for places in the National Park, 



APPENDICES. 183 

and Bozemaii and Livingston the objective points by rail from 
St. Paul in the East and Portland, Oregon, in the West. 

Elevation 
Miles, above 
sea-level. 
Feet. 

Chicago to St. Paul 409 

St. Paul to Bozeman 1,055 

St. Paul to Livingston . 1,030 

Bozeman to Mountain House 17 

To Fridley's 18 miles; from Bozeman, 35 

" Yankee Jim's (toll-gate) 20 " " " 55 

" Mammoth Hot Springs, 20 " " " 75 

(Livingston to Fridley's, Yankee Jim's and Hot 
Springs, about the same as from Bozeman.) 
Mammoth Hot Springs to Trail to Rustic Falls.... 3 6,500 

Miles 
Miles, from 
Spfiugs. 

To Swan (or Annie's) Lake 1; 4 

" To crossing of Gardiner River 3; 7 

" Obsidian Cliffs 4£; llf 

" Beaver Lake f; 12 

" Lake of the Woods 2; 14 

Norris or Gibbon Geyser Basin (Mail Station)..4 ; 18 
From junction of roads at Lower Basin to 

Mary's Lake llf; 

To crossing of Alum Creek 2 J ; 14 

" Forks of road on Yellowstone River near 

Mud Geyser 7; 21 

" Monument Geyser Basin 5; 23 

" Falls of Gibbon River 5; 28 

11 First forks of road to Henrv's Lake .If; 29f * 

" Second" " " [ " 2; 31f 

" Lower Geyser Basin at junction of the roads 1 ; 32£ 6,921 
(From Junction to Queen's Laundry and Springs, 2f ) 
To Midway Geyser Basin, Excelsior Geyser.... 5 ; 37f 
" Upper Gevser Basin, Camping-point, near 

Castle Geyser 3; ,40f 7,000 

" Forks of trail to Yellowstone Lake.. If ; 41 J 

(To Shoshone Lake, from trail vid Madison 

Lake llf). 

To Falls of Firehole River If ; 43 

" Summit of Rocky Mountains, Norris Pass.. .5 ; 48 
" " u '' Two-Ocean Pond 5 ; 53 
" Camp at West Bay or Thumb of Yellow- 
stone -Lake,. Hot Springs Camp 3; 56 7,788 

" Forks of trail to Flat Finger Mountain 2f ; 

" Flat Finger Mountain 7f; 10 

" Summit of Rockv Mountains from forks of 

trail 3; 

" Hot Springs on Hart Lake and Mount 

Sheridan 8; 11 . 



184 APPENDICES. 

Miles Elevation 
Miles, from above 
Springs, sea-level. 
Feet. 
To Bluff Point, Yellowstone Lake, from Hot 

Springs Camp 3; 59 

" Natural Bridge 9; 68 

" Outlet of Yellowstone Lake 5}; 73} 7,788 

" Mud Geyser and Giant's Caldron 5}; 79 7,438 

" Forks of the road to Lower Gevser Basin... 2 : 81 

" Sulphur Mountain (Crater Hills) 2; 83 7,435 

" Upper Falls of Yellowstone River 4; 87 

" Lower or Great Falls, Yellowstone River...l ; 88 

4< Look-out Point, Yellowstone River 1; 89 

" Twin Falls and Cascade, Yellowstone River 3 ; 92 

" Hot Sulphur Creek 1; 93 

" Forks of trail up Mount Washburn. 3; 96 

" Summit of Mount Washburn 1 ; 10,340 

" Forks of trail to Mount Washburn at 

Antelope Creek 3}; 99} 

" Tower Creek, at Falls 3; 102} 6,188 

" Barronett's (Jack's) Bridge, Yellowstone 

River... 3; 105} 

" Soda Butte Springs from Jack's Bridge.. ..13; 

" Trout Lake 2; 15 

" Cooke City P. 10; 25 

" Black-Tail Deer Creek 10; 115} 

" Gardiner River Falls 3}; 119 

" Mammoth Hot Springs..... 3}; 121} 

Note. — 'These distances may not be absolutely correct, but they 
approximate the truth very nearly. Minor and intermediate dis- 
tances may be taken from the map ; a scale of miles will be found 
on it. 

Tourist taking the Southern Route (in contra- 
distinction to the above, the Northern Route) 
the distances are as follows : Miles. 

Chicago to Omaha 493 

To Ogden, Union Pacific Railroad 1,031 1,524 

" Camas, vid Utah Northern Railroad 241 1,765 

" Henry's Lake 65 1,830 

" Junction of roads to Mammoth Hot Springs. 

(Lower Geyser Basin) 281,858 

Taking the Northern Route from Chicago, via St. 
Paul to this junction point at Lower Geyser 

Basin, the distance is 1,137} 

Taking the Western Route, starting from San 
Francisco, the distance is— 

To Portland (approximately) 712 

" Missoula 515 1.227 

" Bozeman 238 1,465 

The altitudes of almost all mountain-peaks and other points of 
interest are indicated on the map accompanying this Guide. 



INDEX. 



A. 

A^t of Dedication of the Na- 
tional Park, 13. 
Alum Creek, 139. 
America, Backbone of, 116. 
Amethyst Mountain, 159. 
Annie's Lake, 50. 
Antelope Creek, 152. 

B. 

Barronett's Bridge, 156. 
Basin. Brimstone, 170. 
Bath Spring, 71. 
Baths, Hot, 45. 
Bay, Mary's, 170. 

West, or Thumb, of Yellow- 
stone Lake, 118. 
Beaver Gulch, 31. 

Lake. 53. 
Beehive Geyser, 87. 
Bell's Peak, 151. 
Big-horn sheep, 164. 
Bison Peak, 149. 
Black Sand Geyser, 109. 
Black-tail Deer, 54. 

Deer Creek, 167. 

Deer Divide, 166. 

Meadow, 166. 
Blue Spring, 42. 
Bluff Point, 125. 
Bozeman, 17. 
Bridge, Barronett's, 156. 

Jack's, 156. 

Natural, 126. 
Bunsen Peak, 151. 

theory of geyser-action, 110i 
Butte, Lake, 170. 
Buttes, Twin, 74. 

O. 

Caldron, The, 74. 
Camp, Hot Springs, 121. 
Camping-places, 171. 
Canon, Gibbon, 64. 
Grand, 145. 



Canon, Rock, 22. 

Second, of Yellowstone River, 
33. 

Sentinel of the, 163. 
Cap, Liberty, 44. 
Cascade Creek, 141. 

Crystal, 141. 
Castle Geyser, The, 98. 

Rock, 50. 
Catfish Geyser, 104. 
Cave, Convention, 170. 

Demon's, 109. 
Cavern Spring, 71. 
Chalybeate Springs, 70. 
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul 

Railroad, 15. 
Chittenden, Mount, 150. 
Cinnabar Mountain, 32. 
City, Cooke, 162. 
Clarke's Fork Mines, 162. 

Fork River, 163. 
Cliff, Obsidian, 52. 
Coal-mines, 23. 
Comet -Geyser, 101. 
Conch Spring, 71. 
Conclusion, 170. 
"Constant" Geyser, 58. 
Control of National Park given 
to Secretary of Interior, 
14. 
Cooke City, 162. 
Crater Hill, 137. 

Island, 121. 
Creek, Alum, 139. 

Antelope, 152. 

Black-tail Deer, 167. 

Cascade, 141. 

De Lacy, 115. 

Geode, 167. 

Hot Springs, 155. 

Pelican, 150. 

Soda Butte, 149. 

Slough, 149. 

Sulphur, 147. 

Tower, 149. 
Crystal Cascade, 141. 
185 



186 



INDEX. 



Curlew, 29. 
Custer, Fort, 165. 
Cut, Devil's, 166. 



Debris Hill, 137. 
Dedication, Act of, of the Na- 
tional Park, 13. 
Deer, Black-tail, 166. 
De Lacy Creek, 115. 
Demon's Cave, 109. 

Well, or Diana's Spring, 97. 
Den, Devil's, 154. 
Devil's Cut, 166. 

Den, 154. 

Half-Acre, or Hell's Half- 
Acre, 82. 

Slide, 32. 
Distances, 182. 
Doane, Mount, 150. 
Dogs, prairie-, 22. 
Dome, White, 70. 
Dunraven Peak, 151. 

E. 
Early history of the National 

Park, 11. 
East Fork, 149. 
Electric Peak, 151. 
Elephant's Back, 127. 
Elevations, 182. 
Elk-hunting, 124. 
Emerald Pool and Geyser, 69. 
Emigrant Gulch, 29. 
Evarts, Mount, 167. 
Excelsior, or Sheridan, Geyser, 

78. 
Expenses, 175. 

F. 
Fairies' Well, or Punch-Bowl, 108. 
Fairy Falls, 74. 
Fall, Fairies', 158. 
Falls, Cascade, 168. 

Gardiner River, 168. 

Gibbon, 64. 

Lower, or Great, 142. 

of the Madison, or Firehole, 
River, 114. 

Rustic, 49. 

Twin, 147. 

Upper, 139. 
Fan, or Fantail, Geyser, 106. 
Fargo, 16. 



Fifth Group of Springs of Lowor 

Basin, 71. 
Firehole hotel and post-office, 77. 
First Group of Geysers of Lower 

Basin, 66. 
Fissure, Hot- Air, 63. 

Spring, 70. 
Flat Mountain, 119. 
Forests, Fossil, 158. 
Fork, East, 149. 
Fort Custer, 165. 

Ellis, 21. 
Forum, Mount. 150. 
Fountain Geyser, 59. 

or Thud, Geyser, 67. 
Fourth Group of Springs of 

Lower Basin, 70. 
Fridley's Ranche, 28. 

<*. 

Gallatin Range, 151. 
Gardiner Hot Springs, 47. 

River, 37. 

River Falls, 168. 
Garnet Hill, 149. 
Gate of the Mountain, 26. 
Geode Creek. 167. 
Geyser-action, Bunsen's theory 

of, 110. 
Geyser Basin, Lower, 66. 

Basin, Lower, Road to, 136. 

Basin, Lower, Seventh Group 
of Springs of, 74. 

Basin, Midway or Middle, 78. 

Basin of Heart Lake, 120. 

Basin, Upper, 84. 
Geyser. Beehive, 87. 

Black Sand, 109. 

Blood, and Paint-Pots, 62. 

Catfish, 104. 

Comet, 101. 

" Constant," 58. 

Emerald Pool, 59. 

Excelsior, or Sheridan, 78. 

Fan, or Fantail, 106. 

Fountain, 59. 

Giant, 101. 

Giantess, 90. 

Grand. 94. 

Grotto, 105. 

Horn, 71. 

Lion. Group, 92. 

Minute-Man, 59. 

Monarch, or Mammoth, 60. 

Monument, and Mount 
Schurz, 62. 



INDEX. 



187 



Geyser, Mud, 59. 

Mud, or Giant's Caldron, 1 33. 

Mud, or Paint-Pots, 68. 

New Crater, 60. 

Old Faithful, 86. 

Riverside, 105. 

The Castle, 98. 

Thud, or Fountain, 67. 

Soda, 109. 

Splendid, or Pyramid, 107. 

11 Vixen," 60. 
Geysers, List of, 178. 
Gibbon Canon, 64. 

Falls, 64. 

Lake, or Lake of the Woods, 
55. 

or Norris, Geyser Basin, 57. 
Goat, Rocky Mountain, 164. 
Goblin Mountain, 150. 
Good camping-places, 171. 
Gophers, 21. 
Grand Canon, 143, 145. 
Great Falls, 142. 
Grizzly Mountain, 150. 
Grotto, 135. 

Pool, 141. 
Grouse, mountain-, 164. 
Guides, 19. 
Gulch, Bear, 31. 

Emigrant, 29. 

H. 

Heart Lake and Geyser Basin, 

120. 
Hell's Half-Acre, or Devil's Half- 
Acre, 82. 
Hill, Crater, 137. 

Debris, 137. 

Garnet, 149. 

Pelican, 150. 
Hills, Signal, 150. 

Sulphur, 150. 
Holmes, Mount, 151. 
Houdoo, Labyrinths of, 150. 
Horn Geyser, 71. 
Hospitality of Mr. Henderson 

and family, 46. 
Hot-Air Fissure, 63. 

Baths, 45. 
Hot Springs Camp, 121. 

Springs Creek, 155. 

Springs, Gardiner River, 47. 
Hotel, Firehole, 77. 
How to reach the National Park, I 

15. 
Hoyt, Mount, 150. 



Index Peak, 163. 
Island, Crater, 121. 



Jack's Bridge, 156. 
Junction Butte River, 158. 



Knob, Pilot, 150. 



L. 

Labyrinths of Hoodoo, 150. 
Lake, Annie's, 50. 
Beaver, 53. 
Butte, 170. 
Heart, and Gevser Basin, 

120. 
Henry's, road to, and Vir- 
ginia City, 76. 
of the Woods, or Gibbon 

Lake, 55. 
Periodical, 72. 
Shoshone, 117. 
Swan, 48, 50. 
Turbid, 170. 
Yellowstone, 119. 
Yellowstone, outlet of the, 

128. 
Yellowstone, West Bay, or 
Thumb, of, 118. 
Lake, moonlight on the, 131. 
sunset on the, 131. 
trout, 162. 
Lake-shore, scenes*on the, 128. 
Langford, Mount, 150. 
Leases, how granted, 14. 
Lewis Lake, 116. 
Liberty Cap, 44. 
Lion Geyser Group, 92. 
Livingston, 26. 
Locomotive Jet, 138. 
Longfellow, Mount, 149. 
Lookout Point, 142. 
Lower Falls, 142. 

Geyser Basin, 66. 



M. 
Madison River, Falls of, 114. 
Mail-station, Riverside, 76. 
Mammoth Hot Springs, or White 
Mountain Hot Springs, 38. 



188 



INDEX. 



Mary's Bay, 170. 
McCartney's Ranehe, 37. 
Meadows, Gibbon, 62. 
Midwav, or Middle, Geyser Ba'sin, 

78. 
Minerals of the Park, 181. 
Mines, Clarke's Fork, 162. 

coal-, 2:3. 
Minute-Man Geyser, 59. 
Monarch, or Mammoth, Geyser, 

60. 
Monument Geyser and Mount 

Schurz, 62. 
Moonlight on the lake, 131. 
Moorhead, 16. 

Morasses and Swan Lake, 48. 
Morris Pass, 1U. 
Mount Chittenden, 150. 

Doane, 150. 

Erarts, 167. 

Forum, 150. 

Holmes, 151. 

Iloyt, 150. 

Langford, 150. 

Longfellow, 149. 

Norris, 160. 

Sheridan, 151. 

Stevenson, 150. 

Washburn, 149. 
Mountain, Amethyst, 159. 

Cinnabar, 32. 

Flat, 119. 

Goblin, 150. 

Grizzly, 150. 

Quadrate, 151. 

Saddle, 150. 

Sepulchre, 151. 

Sulphur, 1«7. 

Terrace, 151. 

Turret, 150. 
Mountain-grouse, 164. 

home, 23. 
Mountains, Rocky, 151. 
Mud Geyser, 59. 

Geyser, or Giant's Caldron, 
133. 

Geyser, or Paint-Pots, 68. 

Springs, 72. 

Springs and Paint-Pots, 122. 

N. 

National Park, early history, 11. 
Park, how to reach it: from 
the East, 15 ; from the West, 
15. 

Natural Bridge, 126. 



New Crater Geyser, 60. 

Zealand Hot Springs, 41. 
Norris Geyser Basin, or Gibboi. 
Geyser Basin, 57. 

Mount. 160. 
Northern Pacific Railroad, 15. 

O. 
Obsidian Cliff, 52. 
Old Emigrant Peak, 149. 

Faithful Geyser, 86. 
"Old Jumps," 161. 
Oregon Railway and Navigatioc 

Company, 15. 
Outfitting, 17. 

Outlet of the Yellowstone Lake, 
128. 

P. 
Paint Bluff, 125. 
Paint- Pots and Blood Geyser, 62. 

and Mud Geyser, 68. . 

an 1 Mud Springs, 122. 
Park, Willow, S3. 
Pass, Norris, 1 14. 
Passamaria, or Stinking Water, 

River, 150. 
Peak. Bell's, 151. 

Bison, 141). 

Bunsen. 151. 

Dunraven. 151. 

Electric. 151. 

Index. 163. 

Old Emigrant, 149. 
Pelican Creek, 150. 

Hill, 150. 
Pelicans, swans and other water- 
fowl. 132. 
Periodical Lake, 72. 
Pilgrim, 18. 
Pilot Knob, 150. 
Point. Lookout, 142. 

Rock, and Sand, 126. 

Young's, 165. 
Pond, Two-Ocean, 116. 
Pool, Emerald, and Geyser, 59. 

Grotto, 141. 
Post-offise, Firehole Hotel, etc., 

77. 
Prairie dogs, 22. 
Prismatic Spring, 67. 
Punch-Bowl, or Fairies' Well, 1 OS 
Pyramid, or Splendid, Goysei 
107. 

Q. 

Quadrate Mountain, 151. 



189 



R. 

Railroad fares, 173. 
Ranche, Fridley's, 28. 

McCartney's, 37. 
Range, Gallatin, 151. 

Red Mountain, 151. 
Ridge, Specimen, 158. 
River, East Gardiner, 168. 

Falls of the Madison, or 
Firehole, 114. 

Gardiner, 37. 

Junction Butte, 158. 

Passamaria, or Stinking Wa- 
ter, 150. 

Valley of Clarke's Fork, 163. 

Yellowstone, near Living- 
ston, 25. 
Riverside Geyser, 105. 

mail-station, 76. 
Road to Lower Geyser Basin, 1 36. 

to Henry's Lake and Vir- 
ginia City, 76. 
Rock Canon, 22. 

Point and Sand Point, 126. 
Rocky Mountain goat, 164. 

sheep, 164. 
Rocky Mountains, 151. 
Rules and regulations of Park, 

180. 
Rustic Hall, 49. 

S. 

Saddle Mountain, 150. 
Sand Point and Rock Point, 126. 
Scenes on the lake-shore, 128. 
Second Canon, Yellowstone River, 

33. 
Group of Geysers of Lower 

Basin, 67. 
Secretary of Interior, control of 

National Park, 14. 
Sentinel of the Canon, 164. 
Sepulchre Mountain, 151. 
Seventh Group of Springs of 

Lower Geyser Basin, 74. 
Sheep, hig-horn, 164. 

Rocky Mountain, 164. 
Sheridan, Mount, 151. 

or Excelsior, Geyser, 78. 
Shoshone Lake, 115. 

Sierra, 150. 
Signal Hills, 150. 
Sixth Group of Springs of Lower 

Basin, 73. 
Slide, The Devil's, 32. 



Slough Creek, 149. 
Soda Butte Creek, 149. 

Butte Spring, 161. 

Geyser, 109. 
Specimen Ridge, 15S. 
Splendid, or Pyramid, Geyser, 

107. 
Spring, Bath, 71. 

Blue, 42. 

Cavern, 71. 

Conch, 71. 

"Fissure," 70. 

Prismatic, 67. 

Soda Butte. 161. 

Tapering, 121. 

White Sulphur, 137. 
Springs, chalybeate, 70. 

Mammoth, or White Moun- 
tain, Hot, 38. 

Mud. 72. 

Mud, and Paint-Pots, 122. 

New Zealand Hot, 41. 

Old Sulphur, 55. 

Violet, 139. 
Starting out, 19. 
Stevenson, Mount, 150. 
Sulphur Hills, 150. 

Mountain, 138. 
Sunset on the lake, 131. 
Swan Lake and morasses, 48. 
Swans, pelicans and other water- 
fowl, 132. 

T. 

Tapering Spring, 121. 
Tender-footed gentleman, 18. 
Terrace Mountain, 151. 
Thud, or Fountain, Geyser, 67. 
Thumb of Yellowstone Lake, or 

West Bay, 118. 
Tower Creek, 149. 

Falls, 152. 
Trout Lake, 162. 

Yellowstone Lake, 122. 
Turbid Lake, 170. 
Turret Mountain, 150. 
Twin Buttes, 74. 

Falls, 147. 
Two-Ocean Pond and the Back- 
bone of America, 116. 

U. 
Upper Falls of Yellowstone, 139. 
Geyser Basin, 84. 
Yellowstone Valley, 27. 



190 



INDEX. 



V. 

Valley of Clarke's Fork River, 
163. 
Upper Yellowstone, 27. 
Vandalism, 89. 
Vent-holes, 72. 
Violet Springs, 139. 
Virginia City, road to Henry's 

Lake and, 76. 
Vixen Geyser, 60. 



W. 



Washburn, Mount, 149. 
Wash-Tubs, 96. 



Well, Fairies', or Punch-Bowl 

108. 
West Bay, or Thumb, of Yellow 

stone Lake, 118. 
White Dome, 70. 

Mountain Hot Springs, 38. 
Sulphur Spring, 138. 
Willow Park, 52. 



Yankee Jim's, 35. 
Yellowstone River, near Living 
ston, 25. 

Lake, 119. 

Lake trout, 113. 
Young's Point, 165. 



THE END. 



TOURISTS 
MEMORANDA. 



" T~2 3 4 1 

7 8 910 11 12 13 
■14 15 16 17 18 19 20 
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 
28 29 30 31 —... .- 
1 2 3 
4 5 6 7 8 1 9 10 
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 
13 19 20 21 22 23 24 
25 26 27 2S 

12 3 
4 5 6 7 
11 12 13[14 
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 
25 26 27 28,29 30 31 



Apr. 12 3 4 567 
i 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 
15 16.17 18,19 20 21 

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 



Feb. 



Mar, 



8 9 10 
15 16 17 



May i 

6 7 8 9 10 
!13 14 15 16 17 

20 21 22 23 24 
127 28 29 30 31 



June 1 



3 4 5; 6 7 
10 111213 14 

17 18 19 1 20 21 
242526 : 27 [ 28 



4 5 
11)12 

1819 
25 26 

1 2 
8 9 
15il6 
22 ! 23 
2930 




TOURIST'S MEMORANDA 



July August Septembe 

Sunday 188 



Monday 188 



TOURIST'S MEMORANDA 



July ittf/tfst September 

Tuesday, 188 



Wednesday 188 



TOURIST'S MEMORANDA 



July August Septembe 

Thursday 188 



Friday, 188 



TOURIST'S MEMORANDA 



J alii Auaust September 

Saturday 188 



Sumltiy 188 



TOURIST'S MEMORANDA 



July August Septemb* 

Monday 188 



Tuesday 188 



TOURIST'S MEMORANDA 



July August September 

Wednesday 188 



Thursday 188 



TOURIST'S MEMORANDA 



July August September 

Friday 188 



Saturday 188 



TOURIST'S MEMORANDA 



July Amjust September 

Sunday 188 



Monday 188 



TOURIST'S MEMORANDA 



July Aaaust Septemlxi 

Sunday, 188 



Monday 188 



T H E 

Northern Pacific Railroad 

Runs through Empress Trains of Pullman 
Palace Sleeping and Dining Room Cars from 
all its terminal points—St. Paul, Dtiluth, 
Portland and Tacoma, direct to the Yellow- 
stone National Paris, at Mammoth Hot Springs. 

From the Mammoth Hot Springs a fine Concord 
Stage line, with reliable steady drivers, connects 
with all points of interest within the Park, setting 
passengers down at Lower Geyser Basin, Upper 
Geyser Basin, outlet of the Yellowstone Lake and 
Great Falls of the Yellowstone River, at which 
point first-class Hotels are found. All the Hotels 
are furnished with Bath Houses and all the mod- 
ern conveniences. 

The Stage Company will furnish Saddle Ponies, 
attendants and guides. The Stage fare to and 
from points within the Park is 12 cts. per mile. 

Excursion tickets from St. Paul or Duluth to 
Mammoth Hot Springs and return, good until 
September 30th, 1883. 



r i to 5, - 


- $ 90.00 each. 


5 lk 15, - - 


- 85.00 " 


15 " 25, - 


80.00 " 


25 " 50, - - 


- 75.00 " 


50 " 75, - 


70.00 " 


75 " 100, - 


- 65.00 " 


00 and over, 


60.00 " 



For further information, apply to 

G. K. BARNES, 

Genl. Pass, and Ticket Agent, 

ST. PAUL, MINN. 



CALVIN WELLS. AARON FRENCH 

PITTSBURGH 

Cast Steel Spring Works, 

Manufacturers of 

Extra Tempered, Light Elliptic 
CAST STEEL SPRINGS, 




With Patent Hot Compressed Bands 

FOR 

RAILROAD CARS AND LOCOMOTIVES. 



A. FRENCH & CO. 



Office and Works, 



Corner Liberty and 21st Streets, 
PITTSBURGH, PA. 



AGENTS: 

New York, Room 88, Borreel Building, 115 Broad- 
way, H. A. Little. 

Chicago, 24-6 Clark Street, Geo. W. Morris. 

St. Louis, 209 North Third St., M. M. Buck &. Co. 

Boston, 52 Mason Building, John Kent. 




CALVIN WELLS, 
Directing Manager. 

AARON FRENCH, 
Chairman. 



GEO W. MORRIS, 



FRANK D. LAYNG, 
Treasurer. 

W. P HANSELL, 



FRENCH SPIRAL SPRING CO. 

(LIMITED) 

Spiral Railway Car Springs, 

STREET CAR, BUFFER, FREIGHT BOLSTER, 
JOURNAL AND EQUALIZING SPRINGS. 

Brake Release, Switch, Valve, and Machinery Springs. 



Chicago— Geo. W. Morris, 246 Clark St. New York— H. A. Little, 
Room 88, Borreel Building. St. Louis— M. M. Buck & Co. 209 North 
Third St. Boston— John Kent, 52 Mason Building. 




Pat. Dec. 27, 1870. 
Pat. Oct. 10, 
Pat. Mar. 13, 



The Lake Superior Transit Co. 

INVITES THE ATTENTION OF VISITORS TO THE 

Yellowstone National Park 

to its superior facilities for enabling Tourists to reach this delightful 
and wonderful region. Its magnificent fleet of Ten Palace Steamships 
are the largest and finest on the great Lakes, and are replete with every 
comfort. Intending passengers may take the steamers at either Buffalo, 
Erie, Cleveland, Detroit or Port Huron; from whence they are carried 
via. Lake Huron and the beautiful St. Mary's River through Lake Su- 
perior to DULUTH, passing the Pictured Rocks, Huron Mountains and 
the Apostle Islands en route. At DULUTH. connection is made with 
fast express trains of the Northern Pacific Railroad, equipped with 
Pullman's finest Sleeping and Dining Cars, direct for the Park. 

VARY A LONG RAIL JOURNEY BY TAKING THE 
LAKE AND RAIL ROUTE. 

For further information, maps, time tables and an illustrated Tourist's 
Guide, giving over 100 routes via Lake, River or Rail, address any agent 
of the Lake Superior Transit Co., or 

T. P. CARPENTER, Gen. Pass. Agt., 

ATLANTIC DOCK, 

BUFFALO, N. Y. 

Dakota Native Goal. 



IMPORTANT 

To Settlers and Investors in Dakota lands is 
the fact that Native Coal, of excellent quality 
and reasonable price, which has been proved to 
be the cheapest fuel in the Northwest for manu- 
facturing and domestic use, is mined and for sale 
by the 

Northern Pacific Coal Co. 

C. W. THOMPSON, General Manager, 

BISMARCK, DAKOTA. 



Y^ DEALERS IN ^0 

MEN'S AND BOYS' 

Clothing, 

Fine Furnishing Goods, 
HATS, CAPS, 

Boots and Shoes, 

Mining Goods, etc. 
BOZEMAN AND HELENA, 

HQorjtana territory. 



We make a specialty of Outfits for the 
Yellowstone National Park. 



NORTHERN PACIFIC HOTEL, 

BOZEMAN, MONTANA, 

Only First-class Hotel 

IN THE CITY, 

LOCATED IN BUSINESS CENTRE. 



J. N. HARDER, - - MANAGER. 

Office of the 

Virginia City, Dillon, National Park and 

Cooke City Stage Lines. 

@@@, W, WakeMeld's 

BOZEMAN & NATIONAL PARK 

STAGE LINE. 



Daily Line of Coaches carrying U. S. Mail, 
connecting with X. P. R. R. at Bozeman for Cooke 
City, Clarke's Fork Mines, via. Upper Valley of 
the Yellowstone, Mammoth Plot Springs, Gardiner 
River Falls and Soda Butte Springs. 

Daily Line of Coaches between Bozeman and 
Virginia City, where close connections are made 
with Utah Northern and Union Pacific Railroads. 

C. W. HOFFMAN, 

PHILIP DODSON, General Agent. 

Agent at Boseman, Montana. 



STRASBURGER & SPERLING, 

Dealers in 

Dry Goods Clothing, 

Hoots. Shoes, Mats and Caps. 

Groceries. General Merchandise and Singer Sewing 

Machines. Wagon Covers. Wall Tents and 

TOURISTS' OUTFITS, 

MAIN STREET, BOZEMAN, MONTANA. 



THE OLD ESTABLISHED 

TELEGRAPH & SHC iT-HAND INSTITUTE. 



€. os*z£££ ^^^^dt^iedd- ^-\t& 



Endorsed by scores of the Greatest Business Houses in the 
Country and by hundreds of its Students now in Business. 

Shows a greater number and a larger proportion of its Stu- 
dents in successful business than any other institution in the 
Northwest. 

Its merits are well fortified by tangible proof. 

Send for a new 90-page Catalogue, containing full particu- 
lars and proofs of these statements, free. 

Address, W. A. F ADDIS, Principal, 

Corner Third and Jackson Sts., 
ST. PAUL, MINN. 

THE OLD RELIABLE GUN HOUSE. 

M. F. KENNEDY & BROS. 
66 East Third Street, Saint Paul, Minn. 

MANUFACTURERS, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALERS IN 

Grins, Rifles, Revolvers. Ammunition. Fishing- Tac- 
kle, etc. Hunters" Outfits, of all kinds. Agents 
for Sharp's Winchester, Marlin, Ballard and 
Remington Rifles, Parker and Colt's Shot 
Guns, American Powder Company. 

^TSEND FOR PRICE LIST.-®& 



C15 80 1 



15 



80 1 



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